The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Janez Lenarčič, called, in Jerusalem on the evening of Wednesday 6 March, for an end to the suffering of Gazans, and for a pause or ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians.
“The suffering of Israeli hostages must end, as must that of civilians in Gaza. This suffering is horrendous”, he stressed to the media, pointing out that there have already been 30,000 deaths in Gaza, an average of 200 a day. The figures are “intolerable”, claimed the commissioner. He said that these deaths “raised unbearable and serious questions about respect for the fundamental principles of international law, like the principle of proportionality and the distinction between combatants and civilians”.
Reiterating the lack of humanitarian aid in the enclave, “the massive shortage of food, particularly in the north, and of basic services”, the Commissioner called for “a humanitarian pause or ceasefire” to “ prevent starvation and other avoidable deaths” and to ensure the adequate provision of humanitarian aid to all those in need.
Mr Lenarčič recalled that the UN Security Council had called for humanitarian pauses last October, but that there had only been one since then, in November. “It is therefore high time to adopt a new approach to respond to the urgency of a human catastrophe”, he stressed.. Although a Hamas delegation expressed its dissatisfaction with Israeli positions on a truce in Gaza and left Cairo, the US ambassador to Israel said on Thursday that the talks had not yet failed.
Mr Lenarčič claimed that the EU was exploring all possibilities to provide aid to Gaza (see other news). While the EU is trying to support airdrops, he said that this was not the most effective way of delivering aid and that it was not sufficient in terms of quantity.
Opening a sea route and unblocking land routes
The Commissioner also welcomed the opening of a humanitarian corridor from Cyprus, while recalling the challenges this entailed, such as the point of arrival in Gaza when there is no longer a port, or the need for structures to receive aid. According to him, Israel was adopting a “positive and optimistic” attitude towards the corridor, which he found “encouraging”.
In Bucharest for the EPP congress, the Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, recalled that his country had worked “tirelessly” to open up this maritime corridor. He said he was delighted that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, would be coming to Cyprus on Thursday evening and Friday to push forward this initiative. “Ms von der Leyen put all her weight behind this initiative from day one”, he explained. In a telephone conversation with Mr Christodoulides on Monday, Ms von der Leyen announced that the Commission would support the implementation of this humanitarian corridor.
Contacted by Agence Europe, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not replied to our questions by the time of going to press.
According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, quoted by Cyprus Mail, the humanitarian aid will be bought and transported by sea at the expense of the United Arab Emirates. The ships’ cargos will be checked in Cyprus by an Israeli security team before leaving for Gaza.
US President Joe Biden has announced that he has ordered the US army to carry out an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza.
For his part, on X (formerly Twitter), the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, called on “all those concerned about the situation in Gaza” to put pressure on the Israeli government to grant unimpeded humanitarian access by land and not to block convoys.
“The other options are not enough: airdrops are good, but not enough. Maritime lanes are necessary, but they take time. And time is running out”, he added. Speaking to the media, Mr Lenarčič stressed the “openness” of the Israeli authorities to the establishment of additional crossing points, hoping that this will materialise. In his view, the biggest challenge is the quantity of aid delivered, and there is no substitute for aid delivered through land crossings.
The Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights, Udo Bullman (S&D, German), said that Europeans should increase pressure on both sides to agree to a ceasefire. “We are the Palestinian Authority's biggest financier and Israel’s biggest trading partner. It’s high time we made the most of our opportunities”, he said in a press release. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion)