From the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, there were international calls this Friday to investigate one of the most serious episodes in the almost five-month war in Gaza. It is about the death of more than 100 people the day before in the capital Gaza City: partly by shots from Israeli soldiers who opened fire, partly by the convoy with humanitarian aid that they were heading towards in order to alleviate the hunger caused by it Invasion, according to the first hypotheses of an episode that has not yet been clarified, in which the versions differ from each other.
Guterres declared himself “horrified” by the massacre and stressed the “desperation” of civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north of the Strip – where the convoy was attacked – because little humanitarian aid is arriving and hundreds of thousands of residents have the highest rates of malnutrition. The UN secretary general, who was heavily criticized in Israel for emphasizing that the October 7 Hamas attack “did not come out of nowhere,” reiterated his call for “a humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.” 134 that the militias still hold in Gaza. Thursday's deaths have indeed slowed negotiations on the exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a temporary ceasefire, as admitted by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who added that his country would launch humanitarian aid from the air , to alleviate food shortages among the Gaza Strip population.
The call for an investigation has been joined not only by the most critical voices, but also by others who are closer to Israel, such as its main ally, the USA, or Germany, which supplies the country with weapons and will support it in refuting the accusation of genocide South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “Citizens wanted to get humanitarian aid for themselves and their families and were killed in the process. The information from Gaza shocks me. “The Israeli army must fully explain how mass panic and shootings could have occurred,” wrote German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the social network X. The word “independent,” which Israel normally rejects, does not appear in the text. He considers this term inappropriate because, as he argues, he already investigates all incidents internally and usually describes his army as “the most moral in the world.”
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was also “deeply shocked” by the massacre this Friday and called on social networks for “every effort” to be made to “investigate what happened” and “ to ensure transparency.” said research. European Council President Charles Michel called for an “immediate independent investigation” and that “those responsible be held accountable for their actions.” Both have also indirectly called on Israel to comply with international law: “We stand with the civilians, we demand their protection in accordance with international law,” said von der Leyen, who was accused of having a stance at the beginning of the conflict that did so pro-Israel. (which he clarified in the following months). Michel declared himself “shocked and outraged by the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza while they desperately waited for humanitarian assistance” and warned that “international law does not allow for double standards.”
“These deaths are completely unacceptable,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said hours earlier. In another message on
France has taken the harshest tone. Its President Emmanuel Macron called for “truth and justice” about the Israeli military’s role in the incident. “Deep outrage at images from Gaza showing civilians being attacked by Israeli soldiers. “I condemn these shootings in the strongest terms and demand truth, justice and respect for international law,” he told fewer than a dozen on the station because their soldiers felt “threatened.” The vast majority, he claims, were crushed by overturned vehicles or other people.
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URNWA Fund
The convictions come on the same day that Brussels announced it would pay out 50 million euros of this year's planned 82 million euros to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA, in English) next week. The rest, he said in a statement, will be published in two parts as the international organization implements agreements reached with the EU to resolve Israel's allegations that 12 of its employees were involved in the October 7 attack, which resulted in UNRWA suffering a significant loss of part of its budget. It is mainly provided by the federal states on a voluntary basis.
“The Commission has assessed its decision to fund UNRWA in the light of the very serious allegations made on January 24th that several URNWA employees were implicated in the horrific attack on October 7th,” the European executive said in a statement She also stated that this decision “took into account the measures taken by the United Nations and the commitments that the Commission asked of UNRWA,” which Israel has been targeting for years.
While announcements of funding suspensions continued (including from the United States, Germany and Japan), the European Commission announced on January 29 that it hoped to accept them, among others, before allocating a new amount of money to the UN agency provided that independent experts commissioned by the EU carry out an audit. He also called for him to strengthen his internal investigation department. Because Brussels, UNRWA and the UN are taking sufficient clarifying steps to disburse this first amount of funds that the humanitarian organization so urgently needs. During a visit to Brussels in February, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the European payment was “absolutely critical.”
The EU is one of the largest donors of humanitarian and development aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, this Friday he announced that, in addition to the allocations for UNRWA from the budget, he would allocate an additional 68 million euros to support aid to Palestinians provided by organizations such as the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
Likewise, he pointed out that this Friday the first 16 million of the total amount of 125 million earmarked for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in 2024 will be in contracts for the shipment of food, medicine and other products to the Gaza Strip as well would be obliged to provide assistance. in education and psychosocial support for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. This means that the total EU aid planned until 2024 amounts to 275 million euros, a municipal spokesman specified.
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