EU calls for immediate humanitarian access to Gaza

The European Union has urged Israel to reopen all Gaza border crossings and grant “immediate, unimpeded access” for aid groups to provide humanitarian relief in the territory following devastating flooding in Gaza this week.

Civilian infrastructure and medical facilities in Gaza “must be protected,” said an EU statement released on Saturday by the office of Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the Vice-President of the European Commission.

The EU call came as an Israeli drone attack killed two more Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday.

The drone struck them as they walked down a street in Jabaliya on the northern edge of Gaza City, according to Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where the casualties were taken. The American field hospital said several other people were wounded but did not provide a number.

The Israeli military said it struck two Hamas “militants” in the area.

An Israeli air attack on Thursday at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza killed at least six Palestinians, including a surgeon, and left dozens wounded.

“The EU underlines the need to respect international law, including international humanitarian law, at all times,” the 27-nation bloc said on Saturday. “This includes the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as medical personnel and facilities. The recent airstrike on the Nasser Hospital is deeply alarming,” it added.

Damage from Israeli attacks on Gaza’s infrastructure has worsened floods caused by heavy rain, which have submerged large areas of the enclave, local officials and the UN said this week. Gaza’s media office reported that more than 700km of Gaza’s sewage network has been destroyed.

Heavy rain has directly affected at least 106,000 people in Gaza in recent days, according to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, with thousands of tents for displaced Palestinians submerged and latrines overflowing into camps.

In response, the EU said that “Israel must enable the work of the UN and its agencies, and humanitarian organisations including NGOs, and comply with all its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

The EU reaffirmed “its commitment to the two-state solution” and called for “the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza” as it called for “sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance and early recovery support at scale” to ease the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.