The European Commission continues to assess the signs of tangible improvement in the humanitarian situation in Gaza, while new UN indications point to famine in the enclave. In line with steps taken by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas since the end of June, the efforts announced on Sunday by the Jewish state regarding the introduction of daily “humanitarian pauses” are receiving particular attention.
“We still have to check how effective it is”, a senior European official told the press on Tuesday 29 July. “There are a lot of figures out there (on the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza, editor’s note) and they vary a lot”, he continued.
“We have agreed with the Israelis on allowing at least 160 trucks to enter the territory via various crossing points and on opening additional crossing points in Gaza. For the moment, only two have been opened”, he added, reporting that UN agencies had already been able to return to the enclave. This senior official was refused entry to the enclave by the Israelis, who told him that Gaza is a “war zone”.
On Monday evening, European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica said that “the EU agreement with Israel on humanitarian access to Gaza needs to be fully and swiftly implemented”.
“We expect that Israel will cooperate to ensure humanitarian aid delivery”, she told a conference in New York on the two-state solution.
“Not only do we need more trucks, more crossing points, and more fuel. The security situation at border crossings must be guaranteed so that aid can enter, be offloaded to reach the people in need”, insisted the commissioner.
New airdrops. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced Tuesday that France would drop 40 tons of aid to the Gaza Strip starting on Friday, via four flights carrying 10 tons of food each, in close collaboration with Jordan.
“These operations are not intended to replace a significant increase in the volume of aid, which requires Israel to open land crossings without delay”, a diplomatic source stressed. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit with Camille-Cerise Gessant)