Although all the participants failed to agree on the need to demand an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas - a ceasefire deemed impossible by US President Joe Biden - the international conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza’s civilian population, chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on Thursday 9 November, produced a consensus on the need to work towards such a ceasefire. At the moment - position of the EU and G7 obliges - the priority is to obtain breaks and humanitarian corridors.
However, all the UN agencies, NGOs and countries such as Slovenia have called for an immediate ceasefire as “the absolute priority” and the only way of providing ongoing aid, “without which all humanitarian efforts will be in vain”, stressed the Slovenian Prime Minister, Robert Golob. “What's the point of delivering medicines if people are dead the next day?” asked the Médecins Sans Frontières representative.
Late on Thursday afternoon, Israel announced a four-hour military pause in northern Gaza, according toAFP.
Summing up the main themes after the introductory speeches, Emmanuel Macron cited the following points of consensus:
- the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages, the possibility of allowing all those who wish to leave the Gaza Strip to do so in safety, and guarantees for the protection of humanitarian personnel.
- essential access to aid for civilians: “An immediate humanitarian pause and the preparation of a genuine ceasefire to allow humanitarian action seem to be the consensus of the international organisations and NGOs that are operating. Consequences must be drawn”, he declared.
- to save lives, give the people of Gaza access to water and energy, and “put in place this pause leading to a humanitarian ceasefire, which is the only way we will be able to respond to the scale of the problem”.
The parachuting of health supplies into Gaza by Jordan, the setting up of an Emirati field hospital, the maritime corridor project proposed by the President of Cyprus, the EU’s humanitarian airlift, the Egyptian initiative to treat the wounded and the proposal to set up “a light and agile general secretariat to coordinate aid” from everyone as efficiently as possible were all cited as concrete initiatives to help the trapped and constantly bombarded Palestinian population.
At the start of the conference, the French President said that “the terrorist group Hamas” was responsible for the suffering “now inflicted on the Palestinians”, while recalling that “the fight against terrorism can never be without rules. Israel knows this. The trap of terrorism is the same for everyone: giving in to violence and renouncing our values”.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, declared that “the European Union considers that the protection of civilians must be in our DNA” and paid tribute to the “UN agencies that have paid a heavy price” in this war.
The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, called on all countries to participate in his country’s plan for a one-way maritime corridor for urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza. The plan provides for a 33-country coordination centre for the arrival of goods and equipment in Cyprus and for aid to be transported from Cyprus, with meticulous checks on ships leaving for Gaza, in cooperation with Israel. There is still the question of identifying a place on the south coast of Gaza, in a neutral zone, to receive the aid. UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority would be involved in distributing it as quickly as possible. This plan is supported by the EU, Greece, France, the Netherlands and the United Nations.
An appeal has been launched to increase contributions by $1.2 billion to cover needs. Mr Macron announced that France would increase its humanitarian effort to €100 million for 2023, continue to deploy maritime and medical resources and take in injured people and seriously ill children.
The EU has already quadrupled its humanitarian aid to €100 million, and has so far coordinated, through its humanitarian airlift, the shipment of 378 tonnes of essential goods to Gaza via Egypt, according to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Several countries have announced an increase in their financial contribution, including Ireland (€13 million).
“How many Palestinians must die for this war to stop? Is it enough to kill six children and four women every hour? Is killing 10,000 people in 30 days enough? Is 25,000 injured enough?”, asked the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Shtayyeh. “The opening up of southern Gaza is just a deportation”.
He thanked Egypt, which provided 5,400 tonnes of humanitarian aid that was able to enter Gaza. It is very important to save the injured and provide water, food and medicine throughout the country, particularly given the risk of the spread of “plagues that are beginning with more than 1,300 bodies still under the rubble”, he warned.
Stressing that, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council, “Hamas and Israel have committed war crimes”, he deplored the silence on this subject. Recalling that this is the sixth war in Palestine, he added: “We reject the creation of a new camp in southern Gaza”, saying that “the solution is to put an end to the occupation and the settlements. The international community must be united” to achieve this. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)