France organizes 'humanitarian conference' to attempt aid delivery to Gaza

On Thursday, at the initiative of President Emmanuel Macron, France is hosting a "humanitarian conference" in an attempt to deliver aid to Gaza, which has become nearly impossible due to continuous Israeli airstrikes since Hamas' attack on October 7. 

The Israeli government will not be represented at this conference, which is being held at the Elysée Palace. However, the French president spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday and will speak with him again after the conference, according to the French presidency. 

Macron also had phone conversations on Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, both of whom play a key role in any effort to improve the conditions for aid delivery to the Gaza Strip, where 2.4 million Palestinians live. 

Arab countries will not be represented at a high level at the conference. 

The Palestinian National Authority has sent Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to the conference, while Egypt, which manages the Rafah border crossing, the only one leading to the Gaza Strip that is not supervised by Israel, is participating with a ministerial delegation. 

The conference will closely monitor humanitarian organizations that decry their inability to access Gaza and the impossibility of providing aid as long as the airstrikes continue in the region. 

AFP