By Al-Fassel and AFP | 2023-11-09

PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (November 9) opened a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza, stressing the need to protect civilians amid the ongoing Hamas-Israeli war.

The war has been raging since October 7, when the Hamas terrorist group stormed into Israel from Gaza, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 200 hostages.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel retaliated with a massive aerial bombardment and ground invasion.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled towards the south of the Gaza strip.

Thursday's aid conference was put together in a hurry on the sidelines of the annual Paris Peace Forum, set for Friday and Saturday.

It has brought together government representatives from many European countries, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority and a slew of aid groups but no heads of government from the Arab world. Israel also will be absent.

Few Arab nations are expected to send delegates, although the Palestinian Authority will send its prime minister and Egypt a ministerial delegation.

The prime ministers of Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg will attend, along with European Union (EU) chiefs Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.

All governments nevertheless have "an interest in the humanitarian situation improving in Gaza, including Israel," a Macron aide told reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of the gathering.

"The idea is to go around all the major donors and speed up aid to Gaza," France's foreign ministry said last week.

There will be sections on donations of goods such as food, fuel and medical supplies, financial support and humanitarian access, the ministry said.

'Strictly pragmatic tone'

In Paris, delegates hope to reach a shared evaluation of the situation on the ground and to mobilize the international community to lend support.

No joint declaration is planned at the end of the conference.

France "is insisting on a strictly pragmatic tone, operational, humanitarian; they don't want this conference to turn into a platform for condemning Israel," a European diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The United Nations (UN) estimates that $1.2 billion in aid will be needed for the populations of Gaza and the West Bank from now until the end of the year.

Paris will increase its financial support from €20 million to €100 million (from $21.4 million to $107 million), said Macron.

"We're going to ask that aid enter Gaza because for now it's just a few trucks each day," Philippe Lazzarini, director of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), told broadcaster France Inter early on Thursday.

He added $100 million was needed just to pay salaries to UNRWA's 30,000 employees.

The United States has vowed a continued flow of aid under a deal brokered by US President Joe Biden with Egyptian and Israeli leaders.