UN chief pushes for aid to Gaza

Rafah, October 20

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Rafah border crossing on Friday and said aid trucks needed to move as quickly as possible from Egypt into the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza to alleviate a humanitarian crisis.

The crossing has become a focus of attention since Israel began its bombing of Gaza in retaliation for a deadly assault by the Hamas militant group on southern Israel on October 7. Gaza is running short of fuel, food, water and medicine but the Egyptian-controlled border has remained shut while various parties wrangle over terms for allowing aid to flow in.

$106 billion US funding plan

• The White House has asked the Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund plans for Israel, US border security and also Ukraine.
• China has sent an envoy to West Asia to push for a cease-fire in the latest sign of its ambition to play a larger role in the region.

Guterres flew to Egypt on Friday in a push to get the trucks moving. “We are now actively engaging with all the parties — Egypt, Israel, US...” he said. Meanwhile, the White House asked the Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and US border security, but offered no strategy for securing the money from a broken Congress.

Amid increasing anti-US protests and potential terrorist attacks, the US has issued a worldwide caution for Americans travelling overseas.

China has sent an envoy, Zhai Jun, to West Asia to push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the latest sign of its ambition to play a larger role in the region.

At the same time, thousands of people in Muslim countries and beyond held demonstrations against Israel’s airstrikes and in solidarity with Palestinians.

In Iraq, demonstrators led by the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iran-backed Shia political groups and militias, gathered at Jordan’s border.

In a rare move, the Egyptian government approved and even helped organise 27 locations for protesters to gather on Friday.

In Turkiye where the government has declared three days of mourning in solidarity with the victims of a blast at a Gaza hospital, thousands of people staged protests outside mosques in Ankara.

In Malaysia, some 1,000 Muslims marched along a busy thoroughfare in Kuala Lumpur.

In Indonesia’s capital, demonstrators marched from several mosques to the heavily guarded US Embassy in Jakarta to denounce American support for Israel.

In South Korea’s capital, dozens of protesters chanted slogans, waved Palestinian flags and raised anti-Israel banners. — Agencies

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