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No ceasefire, no humanitarian truce and not enough aid is trickling through to feed the starving Palestinians. The Israeli war on Gaza continues to show no signs of abating, even for a humanitarian pause on the occasion of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The UN and aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies needed for Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been allowed in since Israel placed the narrow Mediterranean Strip under near-total siege following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas inside Israel that left more than 1,200 mainly civilian Israelis dead and saw more than 250 taken hostage. The reprisal war by Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.

Weeks of talks involving the US, Qatar and Egypt failed to yield a ceasefire, truce or any hostage exchange ahead of the start of Ramadan. And while both sides continue their blame game for the failure to reach a deal, the civilians of Gaza are likely to continue to barely exist. If they survive the relentless Israeli bombardments, they might not survive the lack of food and medicine. The UN and many aid groups say that the supplies reaching Gaza by truck from Egypt or by airdrops make up hardly 20 percent of what Gazans need on a daily basis. One can only hope that the newly announced US humanitarian sea bridge will be able to deliver the vital supplies needed to save lives in Gaza.

One cannot help but read between the lines and see the waning US foreign influence vis a vis one of its closest........

© Arab News Pakistan