French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Egyptian city of El-Arish, a key transit point for Gaza-bound aid, on Tuesday to call on Israel to lift its blockade of aid deliveries to the war-battered Palestinian territory.
Alongside his Egyptian host Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Macron toured a hospital in the port city, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the Gaza Strip, and met with medical professionals and sick and wounded Palestinians evacuated from Gaza.
Carrying a bouquet of red roses to give to patients, the French president visited several wards as well as a play area for children.
While in the city Macron said “the situation today is intolerable,” and called for “the resumption of humanitarian aid as quickly as possible” to the territory. He also “strongly condemned” an Israeli attack on paramedics and aid workers last month.
His office said the trip was aimed at piling pressure on Israel for “the reopening of crossing points for the delivery of humanitarian goods into Gaza”.
Israel cut off aid to Gaza in early March, during an impasse over next steps in a ceasefire with Hamas. Later in March, Israel resumed intense bombardment across the territory and restarted ground operations.
Emergency department doctor Mahmud Mohammad Elshaer said the hospital had treated around 1,200 Palestinian patients since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
“Some days we can receive 100 patients, others 50,” Elshaer said, adding that many had sustained limb amputations or eye or brain injuries.
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 blockaded territory.
