STORY: Conference on humanitarian response for Gaza held in Jordan
SHOOTING TIME: June 11, 2024
DATELINE: June 12, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:56
LOCATION: Amman
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English): MARTIN GRIFFITHS, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator

STORYLINE:

The UN chief, leaders of regional states, and top U.S. diplomat gathered Tuesday in Jordan, stressing the need to accelerate humanitarian aid delivery to the conflict-ridden Gaza Strip.
   
At a conference titled "Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza," they appealed for intensified efforts to aid the Palestinians in Gaza.
   
The conference, co-organized by Jordan, Egypt, and the United Nations (UN), aims to develop a collective response to the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave.
   
In his remarks at the conference, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi welcomed Resolution 2735 adopted Monday by the UN Security Council, which supports a comprehensive ceasefire agreement and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas, as well as the entry of sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid into Gaza.
   
He called on countries to compel Israel to stop "using hunger as a weapon" in Gaza and to remove obstacles to delivering humanitarian aid to people there.
   
For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also attended the conference, urged support for humanitarian aid programs presented by the Palestinian Authority and other countries to assist the afflicted Palestinian people.
   
"The (Palestinian) government has presented its programs for relief, restoration of basic services, institutional reform, and financial and economic stability, and has announced its readiness to take on duties in Gaza, including all crossings into the strip, just as in the West Bank," said Abbas.
   
He urged the Security Council and the international community to pressure Israel to open all land crossings into Gaza and hand them over to the Palestinian government.
   
Also at the conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to support Jordan's crucial role in assisting Gaza residents and as a key regional hub for humanitarian work, praising Jordan for its relief efforts, including dispatching aid convoys, conducting airdrops, and establishing field hospitals.

SOUNDBITE (English): MARTIN GRIFFITHS, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator
"We need finally an immediate ceasefire. We have all been saying this for many many months. Let us hope what happened last night at the Security Council will lead to some real progress. We need, as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and others said today, a pathway towards sustainable peace, a two-state solution which ensures the security of all peoples in the region."
  
Speaking at the conference, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new aid package worth more than 400 million U.S. dollars for the Palestinians.
   
He also called on Hamas to accept the current ceasefire proposal, which he said "is a version of what Hamas has proposed," while urging Israel to "take further steps to minimize human casualties."
   
Blinken highlighted U.S. President Joe Biden's call for an immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and allowance of humanitarian aid to flow.
   
In addition, he underscored the importance of releasing detainees, rebuilding institutions to provide services, and reconstruction of the strip, particularly its infrastructure.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Amman.
(XHTV)