Despite promise to Biden, no steps have been taken to allow Gaza aid to enter via Ashdod Port – report

10 April 2024, 9:26 pm 1 Edit

No preparations have been made to open Ashdod Port to humanitarian shipments earmarked for Gaza, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to US President Joe Biden on the issue, Channel 12’s political correspondent Yaron Avraham reports.

Following a tense conversation with Biden last week in which the US president threatened to condition support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza on it taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians, Netanyahu pledged to temporarily open up Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries.

However, according to Avraham, neither the IDF, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) nor the relevant parties at the Ashdod Port have received instructions regarding the opening of the port, and it is unclear when or if a directive will arrive.

To this end, he reports, US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew spent several hours with Netanyahu yesterday in an attempt to understand which steps, if any, are being taken to open the port.