US promises $404 mn in new aid for Palestinians

Amman [Jordan], June 12: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $404 million in new assistance to the Palestinians, while taking part in a humanitarian aid conference for the Gaza Strip in Jordan.
"Today, I am announcing an additional $404 million in new aid to Palestinians, in addition to the more than [$1.8 billion] in development, economic and humanitarian aid the US has provided since 2021," Blinken said.
"Let's work together to ensure that more aid gets into Gaza and once it is in Gaza reaches the people who need it the most, by land, by air, by sea."
He urged all countries taking part to give more aid as "only one third of the current UN appeal is funded."
UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said that the UN estimates that $2.5 billion is needed to provide aid for people in the Gaza Strip between April and the end of the year.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said on Tuesday at the same conference that Israel is directly responsible "for Gaza's unprecedented humanitarian crisis" and that "it is a deliberate result of a destructive war of revenge against the [Gaza] Strip."
Israel must stop using hunger as a weapon and allow flow of aid into the Strip, he said.
The conference, dubbed "Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza," was organized by Jordan, Egypt and the UN.
The meeting was attended by the leaders, foreign ministers and officials of 75 countries as well as representatives of international organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the conference website.
"The war in Gaza is now in its eighth month, with massive loss of life among civilians and suffering for the entire population of over 2.3 million Palestinians across the Strip," the organizers said.
"Famine is imminent in many parts of Gaza; trauma is widespread; every part of gaza is in ruins. No place is safe in the Strip, and access to food, water, shelter, or medicine is practically non-existent."
Source: Qatar Tribune