Joe Biden will ask Congress, Friday October 20, to finance “emergency” aid to Israel and Ukraine, “essential partners” the United States. “Hamas and Putin pose different threats, but they have this in common: They both want to completely destroy a neighboring democracy”, added the American president, who is returning from Tel Aviv. The United States will be safer “for generations” if they help these two countries at war, he insisted, in a rare speech from the Oval Office of the White House. Follow our live stream.
The explosion in a Gaza hospital reportedly left “100 to 300” dead. The results of the strike on the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza on Tuesday are “probably at the low end of a range between 100 and 300” dead, according to an American intelligence note of which AFP was able to consult extracts. This summary sent to Congress affirms, as Joe Biden declared on Wednesday, that Israel “probably did not bomb the hospital in the Gaza Strip”.
Humanitarian aid expected Friday. Egypt carried out work on Thursday on the roads damaged by Israeli bombings at the Rafah crossing point. The first humanitarian aid convoys for the Gaza Strip, blocked for several days at the border, could therefore arrive there as early as Friday. “We need unhindered access and safe delivery of our life-saving aid. Time is running out.”called Unicef on X, Friday morning.
Germany releases new aid for the Gaza Strip. The German Foreign Minister announced on Thursday additional aid with immediate effect of 50 million euros to support the population of the Palestinian enclave. It will be used to “support international organizations such as the World Food Program, Unicef and especially Unrwa [l’agence de l’ONU pour les réfugiés palestiniens]so that the people of Gaza can be supplied with food.”