Macron tours Egypt aid outpost for Gaza
Macron, who arrived in Cairo on Sunday, has said he would meet with sick Palestinians and medical professionals in El-Arish, an 'outpost of humanitarian support for the civilian population of Gaza'.
France's President Emmanuel Macron. Picture: AFP
EL-ARISH - French President Emmanuel Macron visited Egypt's port city of El-Arish on Tuesday, a key transit point for Gaza-bound aid, to call on Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian access to the war-battered Palestinian territory.
An AFP journalist said Macron was in El-Arish, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the Gaza Strip, along with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Macron, who arrived in Cairo on Sunday, has said he would meet with sick Palestinians and medical professionals in El-Arish, an "outpost of humanitarian support for the civilian population of Gaza".
The French leader is also expected to tour Red Crescent warehouses and meet with UN and aid representatives.
In a symbolic stop on his Egypt tour, Macron will call for "the reopening of crossing points for the delivery of humanitarian goods into Gaza", a presidency statement said.
Israel cut off aid to Gaza in early March, during an impasse in negotiations to extend a truce with Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.
Later in March, after a two-month truce, Israel resumed intense bombardment across the Gaza Strip and restarted ground operations.
In Cairo, Macron, Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II called for an "immediate return" to the ceasefire.
The three leaders met on Monday to discuss the war and humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's 2.4 million people, the vast majority of whom have been displaced at least once during the war.
In a joint statement on Monday, the heads of several UN agencies said many Gazans are "trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck" outside of the besieged territory.