SWEIMEH, JORDAN (AFP) – Leaders at an emergency summit on Gaza’s humanitarian crisis pleaded Tuesday for greater aid access into the war-ravaged territory and backed a US-proposed ceasefire as the only long-term solution.
Jordan invited leaders from around the world to its Dead Sea coast for urgent talks as aid groups warn that conditions are worse than ever in Gaza, with virtually the whole population of more than two million people relying on sporadic aid deliveries.
“The horror must stop,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the conference.
“The speed and scale of the carnage and killing in Gaza is beyond anything in my years as secretary-general,” he said.
UN humanitarian coordination Martin Griffiths described the Gaza war as a “stain on our humanity” and appealed for USD2.5 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of Gazans from April until December.
Guterres voiced his backing for a ceasefire plan put forth by US President Joe Biden, under which Israel would withdraw from Gaza population centres and Hamas would free hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to the Jordan conference from Israel where he made his latest push for the deal, insisting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was on board and that it was up to Hamas to agree.
But Blinken and others have said that there was no time to waste on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of the risk of famine.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel’s military operation, announced that his government would offer another EUR16 million in assistance.
Sanchez said that people around the world were looking to leaders to achieve “concrete results and actions to stop the suffering in Gaza”.
He praised the US diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire, saying that “now we call on Hamas and Israel to act in a responsible manner and seize the new opportunity in front of us”.
The incoming leader of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, Prabowo Subianto, also travelled to the conference in Jordan and renewed offers to help.
He said Indonesia was ready to send medical teams, a field hospital and a hospital ship as well as to evacuate 1,000 people for medical treatment.
“Although we are willing to support and contribute to all these efforts, the final solution to this problem is a two-state solution,” Prabowo said.
Israel’s murderous offensive has killed at least 37,164 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
It comes in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
