Although several European countries are calling for the EU to step up its response (see EUROPE 13686/13) to the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, on Thursday 24 July, the European Commission refused to take any steps in this direction. The EU institution is confining itself to an assessment of the tangible improvements in the delivery of aid in the enclave in the light of the measures agreed with the Israeli government on 10 July (see EUROPE 13678/27).
“The ambassadors [of the Member States to the EU] have received an initial update on the implementation of Israel’s humanitarian commitments”, said the spokesperson for the European External Action Service, Anouar El Anouni, at midday on Thursday.
“We will not prejudge, nor speculate further in terms of the next steps that might be taken or not taken. All options are on the table”, he insisted.
The spokesperson stressed the complexity of an assessment that requires “triangulating” of different data on the ground, from UN agencies, Israel, non-governmental organisations and neighbouring countries.
“The first feedback that we got (...) did provide a mixed picture. There are more trucks entering Gaza, but distribution is not at scale”, he declared.
On Wednesday, 60 MEPs, mainly from the The Left, Greens/EFA and S&D groups, called on the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, to convene an extraordinary meeting of the 'Foreign Affairs' Council to propose European sanctions against Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the Israeli state had set up to replace humanitarian aid distributions by the United Nations and international NGOs. They urged her to put pressure on Member States to impose bilateral embargoes on arms deliveries to Israel.
"History will not look kindly on the EU's silence and complicity in the face of starvation and genocide in Gaza", they wrote in an open letter to Ms Kallas.
To see the MEPs' letter: https://aeur.eu/f/i06
To the Security Council. On Wednesday, during an open session of the United Nations Security Council, the EU’s Ambassador to the UN, Stavros Lambrinidis, reiterated that the Europeans expect the “immediate and full” implementation of these steps by Israel and also denounced “the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation” in the enclave. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)