For weeks, Israel has blocked the supplies of humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Zone, and in recent days he has allowed the provision of a small amount of help, which has not yet been separated. Earlier on Tuesday, the UN warned against threatening mass hunger, alerting that in the next 48 hours 14 thousand may die. infants.
“The situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic,” Kallas said. – The help that Israel agreed to, of course, is welcome, but it is a drop in the ocean of needs. Help must flow immediately, without any obstacles and on the right scale, because that's what you need She said.
“I raised these issues also during conversations with Israelis,” she continued. – I also talked to the UN and regional leaders. It is necessary to put pressure to change the situation – she added.
Foreign ministers of many EU countries supported the Netherlands initiative regarding the review of the contract. This move announced last week in a letter to Kallas Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp. Politico was the first to inform about it.
The association agreement between the EU and Israel entered into force in 2000 and covers issues such as the framework of political dialogue, agriculture and free flow of goods. Any EU reviews based on human rights fears will be a strong diplomatic signal.
Change of the EU tone at Israel
– The Netherlands took this initiative because we have serious concerns about the Gaza Strip – said Veldkamp. – We are grateful that a sufficient number of member states supported this step and that the high representative Kaja Kallas decided to initiate an review of art. 2 – he added.
“This is an important signal from Europe that the Israeli government must completely endure humanitarian blockade,” he said. “In the meantime, we must continue to work on suspension of weapons, releasing hostages, providing humanitarian aid with the needy and ending this terrible war,” he said.
The tons of Kallas's speech have changed since last week, when she stated that such an initiative has little chance of success due to uneven political support in the EU to make more pressure on Israel.
Since sending the letter, the critic of Israel has intensified, and in the result of the Israeli military offensive and the Gaza Strip blockade, hundreds of subsequent Palestinians were killed over the weekend. The leaders of France, Great Britain and Canada condemned Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.
Marc Botenga, a MEP from the Left Group in the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, was satisfied with a review of the contract between Israel and the EU. – Israel still receives weapons and public funds from Europe. This full participation in the genocide and ethnic cleansing is outrageous. We now need a complete embargo for the supply of weapons to Israel and immediate annulment of the association agreement between the EU and Israel – he said.
On Tuesday, Great Britain suspended negotiations on the free trade agreement with Israel.
In the report of May 12 published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification organization supported by the UN organization, 93 percent were found The population of the Gaza Strip is threatened with hunger defeat. IPC wrote that with the extension of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Zone, the risk of hunger defeat “is not only possible, but more and more likely.” The health care authorities in the Gaza Strip say that on Tuesday Israel killed at least 55 people, and over the last eight days over 500.
