More Than 70 Countries Join US Civil-Military Command Centre for Gaza

Washington (ANTARA) — More than 70 countries are participating in the United States Civil-Military Command Centre for the Gaza Strip, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said on Thursday (19 February).

“More than 70 countries are now participating in our civil-military command centre, and here are the results,” Waltz said during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington.

Waltz said humanitarian aid to Gaza had increased significantly. He noted that 4,200 aid lorries had entered Palestinian territory each week for 13 consecutive weeks. According to him, this represented the longest sustained period of large-scale aid delivery to the Gaza Strip in recent years.

“Aid diversion has dropped significantly compared to before the ceasefire, with less than one per cent diverted this month,” Waltz said.

He added that as of February, the percentage of households experiencing severe hunger had fallen from approximately 30 per cent to one per cent. Access to drinking water had doubled, whilst child malnutrition rates had been halved.

“We are reaching all 2.1 million Gazans with aid, a fivefold increase compared to pre-ceasefire delivery levels,” Waltz said.

In January, US President Donald Trump announced the establishment of the Board of Peace and invited approximately 50 countries to join.