As part of her ongoing contacts with regional leaders, President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Following this call, she said:
“The Commission will immediately increase the current humanitarian aid envelope foreseen for Gaza by €50 million. This will bring the total to over €75m. We will continue our close co-operation with the UN and its agencies to ensure that this aid reaches those in need in the Gaza strip. The Commission supports Israel’s right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists, in full respect of international humanitarian law. We are working hard to ensure that innocent civilians in Gaza are provided support in this context.”
Commissioner Lenarčič said:
“The Commission is doing everything in its power to provide humanitarian support to civilians in the Gaza strip. This tripling of EU humanitarian assistance will help ensure that civilians in Gaza can be provided with the basic necessities required. It is essential that safe and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid is ensured.”
Earlier, the European Union decided to provide aid to the Palestinians, but the decision was put on hold after a commission member said the European Commission was reviewing all of its €691 million in development aid to the Palestinians.
Hungarian Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had initially announced the suspension of all aid payments, but the EU executive subsequently rectified the situation, following an outcry in several other member states.
The aim of the review is to ensure that no European funding “enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks on Israel,” the Commission has said.
On Friday, the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) appealed for about $294 million to help some 1.3 million people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, nearly half of it for food aid as food supplies run out.
More than 1,300 people, most of them civilians, were killed in Israel in last week’s attack while Hamas took another 155 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. More than 2,200 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, including 724 children, have also been killed in Gaza, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since Hamas seized power in the coastal enclave in 2007.
