Jordan hosts emergency aid summit for war-torn Gaza

Jordan hosts a summit Tuesday on the urgent humanitarian response for Palestinians enduring more than eight months of Israeli aggression in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of looming famine.

With much of the territory’s food, water and energy cut off, the vast majority of Gazans rely on sporadic aid deliveries by land, sea and air.

The summit seeks to bring together leaders and aid officials to “determine means for enhancing the international community’s response to the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip”, according to the Jordanian royal court.

The conference is jointly organised by the UN, Jordan and Egypt on the Dead Sea coast and will be attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as Palestinian president.

Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since Israeli aggression began, seeking to push a truce and hostage exchange deal put forward by US President Joe Biden at the end of May.

Under the proposal, Israel would withdraw from Gaza population centres and Hamas would free hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire would last an initial six weeks, which would be extended as negotiators seek a permanent end to hostilities.

Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble and nearly all of its 2.4m on people displaced by Israeli aggression. Aid to Gaza has been severely restricted, particularly since the closure in May of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt the main conduit for humanitarian and fuel deliveries after Israeli troops seized the Palestinian side as they pursued Hamas.