 Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dahaira, in southern Lebanon, at the border with Israel on October 16, 2023. (Photo: Hussein Malla/AP) |
Since the conflict with the Islamist militant movement Hamas broke out on October 7, clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have killed around 10 people on both sides.
After these border clashes Israel began evacuating thousands of residents from 28 locations in the north of the country.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many high-ranking officials.
Biden will extend his trip to Jordan for meetings with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel at a press conference in Tel Aviv on October 17, 2023. (Photo: AFP) |
In a phone call with President Sisi, President Biden agreed on the need to contain military escalation to prevent expansion of the violence and preserve regional security and stability.
Sisi and Biden agreed that protecting civilians and delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip are the top priority.
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Monday called for the opening of safe corridors to bring aid to the people of Gaza.
Addressing an Arab justice ministers meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, Ahmed Aboul Gheit said he was worried about Israel's total blockade of Gaza which has cut off water, food, electricity, and fuel. The Egyptian and French foreign ministers urged delivery of humanitarian aid and removal of foreign nationals from the Gaza Strip.
Egypt controls the Rafah border crossing, the only passage in and out of the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel.
Egypt has received hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid sent by countries and international organizations to the people of Gaza. All of the humanitarian goods are being collected in Arish city in the Sinai peninsula to be transported into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land border gate.
The EU said Monday that the European Commission will immediately triple humanitarian assistance to Gaza to 75 million euros and launch an EU humanitarian air bridge to Gaza through Egypt.
Egypt media said Monday that Egypt will host an international summit on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis in Cairo on Saturday, involving 18 state leaders and UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said Monday that the hostages they seized in the October 7 asault are not Israelis. They will be released whenever conditions “on the ground” allow for it.