On Tuesday 6 January, EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, and European Commissioners for Humanitarian Aid, Hadja Lahbib, and for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, called on Israel to allow international NGOs to operate and provide “life-saving aid” to Palestinian civilians in need. Around 30 organisations have been prohibited from operating in Gaza and the West Bank by the Hebrew state (see EUROPE 13779/7).
Recalling the conclusions of the European Council of 18 December, which stressed the need for “rapid, safe and unimpeded delivery and sustained distribution of humanitarian aid, at scale” into and throughout Gaza (see EUROPE 13771/24), the High Representative and the Commissioners explained that the European Council had “consequently” called on Israel not to apply the law on the registration of NGOs in its current form.
“Without these international NGOs, humanitarian aid cannot be delivered at the scale needed to prevent further loss of life in Gaza”, they warned, pointing out that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was continuing to deteriorate, particularly due to difficult winter conditions.
According to Ms Kallas, Ms Lahbib and Ms Šuica, in order to “deliver aid rapidly, safely and at the scale required, international NGOs must be able to operate in a sustained and predictable way. Without them, life-saving assistance cannot reach people in need”.
They also recalled that the delivery of humanitarian aid and the provision of services to civilians depend on access. And they went on to stress that “under International Humanitarian Law, all parties to a conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of principled humanitarian relief”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)