After floods in Gaza, the European Union urges Israel to let in humanitarian aid

This Saturday, November 14, the European Union urged Israel to allow humanitarian organizations and relief services “immediately” and “unhindered” access to the Gaza Strip, after the torrential rains which hit the Palestinian territory last weekend.

Since last weekend, this bad weather has led to the flooding of tens of thousands of tents of displaced people, and caused the death of five people, including three children, according to Palestinian emergency services.

“Immediate access” to humanitarian aid requested by the EU

“We urge Israel to allow immediate and unhindered access as well as sustainable distribution of humanitarian aid”, as well as to “reopen all crossing points” to the territory, said the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas, in a press release.

“Israel must facilitate the work of the UN and its agencies, as well as that of humanitarian organizations, including NGOs, and comply with all its obligations under international law, in particular international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” insisted the European official.

For the EU, “the severe flooding and winter conditions plaguing Gaza are only further degrading the living conditions of an already exhausted population”, accentuating an already “devastating” humanitarian crisis. “The recent airstrike on Nasser Hospital is deeply worrying,” added Ms. Kallas.

11 dead in new Israeli strikes

On Thursday, Israeli strikes left 11 dead in the Gaza Strip according to Palestinian emergency services, including six in this bombed hospital in Khan Younes, in the south of the territory.

The Israeli army confirmed having struck this hospital, claiming to have targeted “a senior Hamas official and other members of the armed wing of the Islamist movement”, whom it accuses of having used the hospital complex as a “command center”.