Diplomatic aid efforts ramp up for ‘strangled’ Gaza as regional conflict fears grow
Diplomatic aid efforts are ramping up for the people of the Gaza Strip as concern for the region’s escalating conflict intensifies.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, is expected to visit the Gaza Strip this week in an effort to “alleviate the suffocation” of the 2 million Palestinians living there.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also backed a plan for international assistance to Gaza, which would include “direly needed aid to rebuild what has been destroyed.”
The Gaza Strip has long been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, which has caused economic devastation and exacerbated despair for some of the inhabitants. In May, Israel and Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas brokered a ceasefire, but the situation remains fragile.
Leaders from Iran and Egypt, the two major players involved in the conflict, have called for the easing of the blockade and for aid programs to be expanded so that the people of Gaza can live without fear of violence and deprivation.
The US has also pledged to support the people of Gaza and has urged Israel to lift the blockade, but there have been no firm commitments from either side.
Meanwhile, aid workers and diplomats are intensifying their efforts to provide relief to the people of Gaza and are hoping that a long-term solution can be found to prevent the region slipping into a full-fledged conflict.