Jerusalem [Israel], February 15: The Nitzana border crossing between Egypt and Israel has been closed after dozens of Israel protesters blocked humanitarian aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip.
In recent weeks, similar protests occurred particularly at the Karam Abu Salem border crossing, known as Kerem Shalom in Israel.
Protesters often include family members of captives being held by Hamas who demand their release before any more humanitarian aid can cross. Palestinian sources told Al Jazeera that aid supplies stopped entering through the Rafah land crossing about a week ago. Only a limited number of fuel trucks have been allowed to enter.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that as the occupying power, Israel must ensure that the basic needs of Palestinians in Gaza are met.
"In view of a military operation in densely populated Rafah, we renew our call on the parties to the conflict, and all who have influence on them, to spare and protect civilian lives and infrastructure," Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC's director for the Middle East, said in a statement. "Under international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict must ensure the basic necessities of life are provided and the necessary safeguards to preserve life are undertaken for the civilian population. It is urgent to do more now. Countless lives are hanging in the balance."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to prolong the war on Gaza for his "personal career and personal future", according to the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.
In a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart in Nicosia, al-Maliki said, "It is very clear that he doesn't care about the destiny, the lives, of innocent people both in Israel and in Palestine, the Israeli hostages and the Palestinian innocent people in Gaza." "This is something we should deplore and we should really stand against," he added. "It is our collective responsibility to prevent further escalation [and] prolongation of the war, to open other fronts, either in the West Bank or in south Lebanon."
French President Emmanuel Macron has told the Israeli prime minister that he is opposed to a planned Israeli assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population is hemmed in with nowhere to flee.
"This could only lead to a humanitarian catastrophe of a new magnitude and to forced displacement of populations, which would constitute violations of international human rights and bring additional risk of regional escalation," a statement from Macron's office said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
