US President Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed concern about the Israeli military's ground operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip is suffering from serious food shortages, and countries are calling for increased food aid.
President Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the 18th, as the latter approved plans for a ground operation in Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million people are sheltering in the southern Gaza Strip.
After the meeting, White House National Security Advisor Sullivan held a press conference and announced that President Biden had conveyed his deep concerns about conducting ground operations in Rafah.
Meanwhile, on the 18th, the United Nations and other organizations regarding the Gaza Strip released a report stating that famine is imminent in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and that if the fighting intensifies in the future, including ground operations in Rafah in the south, the whole area will be affected. It pointed out that approximately 1.1 million people, half of the country's population, would face famine.
In response to this, High Representative Borrell, who is the foreign minister of the EU, and Commissioner Lenarčić, who is in charge of crisis management, issued a statement on the 18th expressing a strong sense of crisis, saying, ``Hunger should not be used as a weapon of war.'' I showed it.
In addition, on the 18th in London, UK, approximately 30 people, including employees of charity organizations and international NGOs that provide medical supplies to residents of the Gaza Strip, held a demonstration, calling for food to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.
Participants were banging empty pots with spoons and chanting for an ``immediate ceasefire'' and ``let the aid come in.''