“Even wars have rules” EU triples humanitarian aid to Gaza
October 14, 2023, 10:03 pm Listen to the article
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Although the EU is looking at long-term development aid for the Palestinian territories, there is no doubt in the EU Commission regarding emergency humanitarian aid. This value will now be significantly increased.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a tripling of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. Aid funds for the coastal zone controlled by radical Islamist Hamas would be increased by 50 million euros to a total of 75 million euros, von der Leyen said after a conversation with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The EU continues to work with the United Nations to ensure that aid reaches people in need.
Emergency humanitarian aid is not the same thing as development aid, which is a long-term measure to promote economic and social development. Earlier this week, EU Neighborhood Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced that he would “immediately suspend” all EU development aid to the Palestinians, worth €691 million, and that all projects would be put to the test. However, the European Commission later made it clear that the decision had not yet been made. “We are not suspending anything until the review is complete,” said commission spokesman Eric Mamer.
The majority of European Union countries reject the withdrawal of development aid. “Not all Palestinians are terrorists,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday. Borrell called the “collective punishment against all Palestinians” “unjust and unproductive” and said it was “against our interests and against the interest of peace.”
Guterres: “New dangerous low”
The Palestinian radical Islamic organization Hamas attacked Israel a week ago with thousands of rockets and hundreds of fighters. Terrorists carried out massacres in several cities in southern Israel, killing a total of more than 1,300 people. Around 150 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip almost continuously and threatens an imminent ground offensive to completely destroy Hamas. According to local authorities, more than 2,200 people were killed in attacks in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are on the run. Guterres said on Friday that the situation in the Gaza Strip had reached “a new dangerous level”. The UN Secretary General called for respect for human rights: “Even wars have rules”.