UN Security Council Delegation Visits Egypt's Arish and Rafah
(AWP) - A delegation of UN Security Council members visited the cities of al-Arish and Rafah, northern Egypt, on Monday to inspect the process of aid deliveries to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for Egypt’s foreign ministry said the visit was coordinated between the Egyptian and United Arab Emirates missions to the UN, and within the framework of the UAE’s current membership of the UN Security Council.
The spokesperson, Ahmed Abu-Zeid, said that the UN Security Council delegation members were briefed on the process of humanitarian and medical operations provided to support relief efforts for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
He added that the members observed, “the obstacles imposed by the Israeli side that hamper the entry of aid trucks and evacuation of the wounded via the Rafah crossing and result in the congestion of aid trucks and the disruption of their entry into the sector.”
The delegation also visited wounded Palestinians at al-Arish Public Hospital and inspected the Red Crescent warehouses in al-Arish.
The Egyptian foreign ministry emphasised that the UN Security Council delegation’s visit to both al-Arish and Rafah comes at a crucial time when the Council is “unable to make a decision on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and put an end to the continued targeting of civilians and provide them with protection or secure their basic needs.”
The visit comes a few days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that thousands of people in the Gaza Strip were “simply starving.”
The UN Security Council failed on Friday to adopt a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States used its veto to block the draft. The draft was supported by 13 members with one member, the United Kingdom, abstaining.