Egypt welcomes appointment of humanitarian coordinator for Gaza

Egypt said it welcomes the appointment of Dutch woman Sigrid Kaag as senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza and the implementation of measures to facilitate the entry and monitoring of aid to the Gaza Strip.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Kaag’s appointment on Wednesday and she is expected to start work on Jan. 8.

In her role, Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza and establish a UN mechanism to accelerate their movement through states that are not party to the conflict.

She will be supported by the UN Office for Project Services.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zaid said on X: “We welcome the appointment of Sigrid Kaag as a Senior Humanitarian Coordinator to Gaza and the commencement of implementing SC Res. 2720 to establish a UN mechanism for accelerating aid delivery to Gaza.

“Reaching a ceasefire remains indispensable to end this crisis.”

Also on Wednesday, an emergency meeting of the Palestine Committee was held in preparation for the Arab Parliament session on Gaza on Thursday.

During the meeting, speaker Adel Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi renewed the Arab Parliament’s support for the Palestinian issue.

“We denounce the inability of the international community to stop the brutal aggression of the Israeli occupation against the defenseless Palestinian people,” he said.

The parliament will hold a special session on Palestine on Thursday at the headquarters of the Secretariat of the League of Arab States in Cairo.