Live Update arrow right icon From the Liveblog of Sunday, March 17, 2024

EU president says Gaza ‘facing famine,’ calls for ‘rapid’ ceasefire

By Agencies and ToI Staff 17 March 2024, 7:07 pm 1 Edit
This handout picture provided by the Cypriot government's Press and Information Office (PIO) shows European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (2nd-R) and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (R) presenting signed declarations after their summit with the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy, in Cairo on March 17, 2024. (Stavros Ioannides / PIO / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Cypriot government's Press and Information Office (PIO) shows European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (2nd-R) and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (R) presenting signed declarations after their summit with the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy, in Cairo on March 17, 2024. (Stavros Ioannides / PIO / AFP)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says Gaza is facing famine and calls for a rapid ceasefire agreement in the war between Israel and Hamas.

“Gaza is facing famine and we cannot accept this,” von der Leyen tells reporters, speaking in Cairo, after signing a strategic agreement with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

“It is critical to achieve an agreement on a ceasefire rapidly now that frees the hostages and allows more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.”

War erupted in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacres, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many during horrific acts of brutality and sexual assault.

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