The US intensifies contacts for the ceasefire after the tragedy of the aid trucks in Gaza

The United States has intensified its diplomatic pressure in the Middle East amid fears that the death of more than a hundred Palestinians who were trying to get humanitarian aid in Gaza, and against whom the Israeli army opened fire, could derail truce talks. .

This is one of the most serious episodes known so far in the Gaza war and has unleashed a wave of criticism among the leaders of different countries.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for an independent investigation to clarify the deaths of more than 100 people in the incident.

US President Joe Biden, who was traveling to Texas on Thursday to visit the border with Mexico, was asked by the journalists accompanying him about what happened.

Specifically, if it would complicate the talks taking place in Qatar.

“I know it is,” answered the tenant of the White House.

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Biden had predicted on Monday that the six-week ceasefire could be in place by March 4.

But almost immediately, both Israel and the radical Palestinian militia Hamas rejected that possibility.

The deaths in a crowd to obtain humanitarian aid complicate things even more.

There are barely three days until that deadline expires and the president has had to recognize that it is unlikely that the humanitarian pause will be achieved by then.

“Probably not (it will be achieved) by Monday, but I remain hopeful,” he maintained.

The US president has intensified his contacts with leaders in the area to try to prevent the talks from derailing.

The White House has indicated that Biden spoke by phone on Thursday with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani - host of the negotiations - and with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fatah al Sisi, to address the event in the that at least 112 people died in the vicinity of Gaza City.

According to the White House in a statement, Biden and the Arab leaders he spoke with on Thursday “agreed that the incident underscores the urgency of closing negotiations as soon as possible and expanding the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.” .

The head of the US Department of Humanitarian Aid (USAid), Samantha Powers, is in the area to increase pressure for greater entry of assistance to the Strip, where the need is extreme.

White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton indicated, aboard the

Air Force One

plane that was transporting the president to Texas, that her Government has requested information from Israel about what happened and demanded a "thorough investigation."

“We are checking what has happened.

But there are two versions of what happened.

I don't have an answer yet,” Biden said in his statement.

The Israeli army, which fired into the crowd, blames what happened on an avalanche and being run over by overflowing Gazan drivers, while the Palestinian Authority speaks of “atrocious massacre.”

According to Dalton, Thursday's deaths highlight the "need to expand humanitarian assistance to Gaza" and the imperative for Israel to put in place "viable" plans to protect civilians in its offensive in the Strip.

“We have not yet seen those plans put into action,” said the spokesperson.

critics

The high representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell, said this Friday, for his part, in a message on the social network humanitarian.

“I am horrified by the news of another massacre among civilians in Gaza desperate for humanitarian aid.

These deaths are totally unacceptable.

“Depriving people of food aid constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” Borrell wrote.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has stated that she is “dismayed” by the tragedy and requested an investigation that “ensures transparency.”

In her message, however, she does not directly allude to the hundred victims nor mention Israel.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has raised the tone somewhat against Israel due to the event that some Palestinian sources have already begun to describe as “the flour massacre”, in reference to the food transported by humanitarian aid trucks.

Macron has said he is “outraged” by the shooting and demanded “truth and justice” regarding the role of Israeli soldiers in the incident.

“Deep indignation at images from Gaza in which civilians have been attacked by Israeli soldiers.

“I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and I call for truth, justice and respect for international law,” said Macron, also through the social network X.

Previously, the Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, had released a statement from her Government in

“Australia is horrified by today's [Thursday] catastrophe in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it has caused,” said Wong, who recalled the importance of protecting civilians and defending humanitarian aid for those who “desperately need it.” ”.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza, under the control of the radical Palestinian militia Hamas, has announced that the number of Palestinian fatalities in the Strip has already exceeded 30,000.

It is the equivalent of 1.3% of a population that at the beginning of the conflict was around 2.3 million people.

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