“Even wars have rules”
EU triples humanitarian aid to Gaza
October 14, 2023, 10:03 p.m
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While the EU is examining long-term development aid for the Palestinian territories, there are no doubts in the EU Commission regarding humanitarian emergency aid. This will now be increased significantly.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a tripling of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. Aid funds for the coastal area controlled by the radical Islamic Hamas would be increased by 50 million euros to a total of 75 million euros, said von der Leyen after a conversation with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The EU continues to work with the United Nations to ensure that aid reaches those in need.
Emergency humanitarian aid is not the same as development aid, which is a long-term measure to promote economic and social development. At the beginning of the week, the EU Neighborhood Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced that he would “immediately suspend” all of the EU’s development aid to the Palestinians amounting to 691 million euros and that all projects would be put to the test. However, the EU 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.
A majority of European Union countries reject the withdrawal of development aid. “Not all Palestinian people are terrorists,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday. Borrell called “collective punishment against all Palestinians” “unfair and unproductive” and said it was “against our interests and against the interest of peace.”
Guterres: “Dangerous new low”
The radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas attacked Israel a week ago with thousands of rockets and hundreds of fighters. The terrorists carried out massacres in several towns in southern Israel, killing a total of more than 1,300 people. Around 150 people were taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip almost continuously and is threatening an imminent ground offensive to completely destroy Hamas. According to the authorities there, more than 2,200 people have been killed in the attacks on 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 dangerous new low.” The UN Secretary General called for respect for human rights: “Even wars have rules.”