US aid chief announces new help on visit to Egypt
Published: 05:12 PM,Dec 05,2023 | EDITED : 09:12 PM,Dec 05,2023
An aid truck returns after unloading humanitarian aid at Egypt's Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on December 4. — AFP
CAIRO: The US aid chief on Tuesday announced new support for the war-battered Gaza Strip on a visit to Egypt, as a renewed Israeli offensive again puts Palestinians at risk.
Samantha Power, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, travelled to the Egyptian town of El-Arish, the gateway to Rafah, the border crossing that has been reopened but at limited capacity since the war started.
Power announced $21 million in new US assistance that will include hygiene and shelter supplies and food for people in Gaza, where water and other basics have been in short supply.
USAID said the assistance was in addition to $100 million announced by President Joe Biden on October 18.
Power accompanied the delivery by the US military of another 16.3 metric tonnes of previously announced assistance that includes medical supplies, winter clothing and emergency food.
'The United States continues to work around the clock to overcome diplomatic and operational hurdles for humanitarian access, present solutions to emerging humanitarian assistance challenges and significantly scale up this response to where it needs to be,' USAID said in a statement.
But the United States has also faced strong criticism in the Arab world for its military and diplomatic support of Israel.
The United States says it has pleaded with Israel to do more to protect civilians and to allow humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip.
The State Department said on Monday that Israel, after US appeals, began to let badly needed fuel into the Gaza Strip.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and has carried out air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed around 15,900 people, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry. — AFP
Samantha Power, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, travelled to the Egyptian town of El-Arish, the gateway to Rafah, the border crossing that has been reopened but at limited capacity since the war started.
Power announced $21 million in new US assistance that will include hygiene and shelter supplies and food for people in Gaza, where water and other basics have been in short supply.
USAID said the assistance was in addition to $100 million announced by President Joe Biden on October 18.
Power accompanied the delivery by the US military of another 16.3 metric tonnes of previously announced assistance that includes medical supplies, winter clothing and emergency food.
'The United States continues to work around the clock to overcome diplomatic and operational hurdles for humanitarian access, present solutions to emerging humanitarian assistance challenges and significantly scale up this response to where it needs to be,' USAID said in a statement.
But the United States has also faced strong criticism in the Arab world for its military and diplomatic support of Israel.
The United States says it has pleaded with Israel to do more to protect civilians and to allow humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip.
The State Department said on Monday that Israel, after US appeals, began to let badly needed fuel into the Gaza Strip.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and has carried out air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed around 15,900 people, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry. — AFP