Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated on Tuesday that she informed her Israeli counterpart that Israeli defence forces “must stop” killing civilians at aid distribution points in Gaza.
“The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible. I spoke again with Gideon Saar to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that IDF must stop killing people at distribution points,”
Kallas wrote on X.
What did Kaja Kallas demand from Israeli officials?
A few days ago, after EU ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Kaja Kallas stated that the bloc would maintain “options on the table” to pressure Israel’s government if there is no progress in addressing the “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Kallas stated that Israel should
“take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground,”
Which she had earlier described as catastrophic. She met with EU foreign affairs ministers days after announcing a potentially significant agreement with Israel to boost the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where 2.1 million people are suffering from famine and drought due to the collapse of water systems.
What is the scale of Gaza’s aid deliveries now?
Sources report that aid deliveries into the area have risen to roughly 80 trucks daily, but distribution challenges persist. Since there were no evident signs of new aid reaching people over the weekend, Palestinians have kept risking their lives by lining up for food and water at sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-supported logistics organization.
What criticisms has the EU faced over inaction?
Conversely, the EU is accused of a “cruel and unlawful betrayal” of both Palestinians and European values, because of its unwillingness to implement sanctions against Israel with regard to the conflict in Gaza.
Furthermore, Amnesty International’s strong condemnation, stemming from a similar release from other human rights organizations, immediately followed EU ministers in Brussels having rejected sanctioning Israel based on the savage Gaza war and escalation of violence in the West Bank.
While ministers never intended to endorse any of the 10 sanctioning options, which included a full suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement and a trade and cooperation agreement, suspending the trade and cooperation agreement is considered unlikely since it would require unanimity of all membership states.
Israel’s most supportive EU allies—Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic—oppose sanctions, particularly now that Israel has reached a humanitarian deal with the EU. Hungary also maintains its veto against EU sanctions on aggressive Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
