The Arab, French and Turkish partners have held separate talks to sustain and advance the Gaza truce, while Washington has been urged to mount pressure on Israel to move to the next phase of the ceasefire deal.

Israel, which has been accused of constant ceasefire violations, also faces accusations of blocking syringes needed for a mass vaccination drive in Gaza.

In the latest series of diplomatic developments, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the holding of the first meeting of the Turkiye-Egypt Joint Planning Group on Wednesday.

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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was to host his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, to talk about potential next steps in the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, according to a Hurriyet Daily News report.

Similarly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday where they reviewed efforts to uphold the ceasefire in Gaza. Following the meeting, Macron announced that France would form a joint committee with the Palestinian Authority to draw up a new Palestinian constitution.

Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University in Jenin, West Bank, told China Daily that France is taking a stronger position by supporting Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority amid the governing authority's efforts to improve the political, legal conditions in the Palestinian territories so that "funds could flow again".

"I think the meeting of both Turkish and Egyptian ministers is an indication that the US is not putting more pressure on Israel in order to implement and do more work for the second stage (of ceasefire deal)," said Yousef.

At a United Nations news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, Ricardo Pires, communications manager for UN Children's Fund, said the agency, the World Health Organization and partners had launched a catch-up immunization, nutrition and health campaign in Gaza to reach over 40,000 children under three who had missed routine vaccinations due to two years of conflict.

Biggest challenge

On the first day of the campaign, it had managed to reach 2,400 children with multiple vaccines. But he said the biggest challenge faced by UNICEF was delivering syringes and solar-powered refrigerators into Gaza.

It had bought 1.6 million syringes but the vast majority were still outside Gaza.

But in a post on X early Wednesday, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, said the claims that Tel Aviv was restricting baby food or medical equipment "are completely false" and that the claims "never came up" in their meetings with UNICEF and the Civil-Military Coordination Center.

The COGAT also announced on Wednesday, hours after refuting UNICEF's claims that "in accordance with a directive of the political echelon, today (Wednesday)", the Zikim crossing has been opened for the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip.

It said the aid will be transferred by the UN and international organizations following thorough security inspections by the Land Crossings Authority of the Ministry of Defense.

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Before the conflict, Gaza had 98 percent vaccination coverage and 55 vaccination sites. The coverage is now below 70 percent, with 31 vaccination sites destroyed or damaged, according to UNICEF.

Yousef from the West Bank, said it was unfortunate that Israel would use the medical supplies as a "bargaining chip to put more pressure on the Palestinians and more on Hamas" for more concessions as part of its strategy.

Abdulwahed Jalal Nori, a lecturer in the Department of Fundamental and Inter-Disciplinary Studies at International Islamic University Malaysia, told China Daily the muted US response "reflects not a lack of pressure, but a calculated political choice to shield Israel from accountability".

"In contrast, the efforts of Turkiye, Egypt, and France show a shifting global moral center — one increasingly frustrated by Washington's selective diplomacy. The real true peace cannot emerge from silence in the face of suffering," said Abdulwahed.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com