Germany calls on Israel ‘to flood Gaza with aid’

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Wednesday urged Israel to “flood” war-ravaged Gaza with humanitarian assistance only hours after the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warned that more than one million Gazans people are “expected to face death and starvation by mid-July.”

Reiterating that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “catastrophic,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a press briefing in Berlin that there have been “setbacks” in supplying the people of Gaza with aid.

"What I believe is undisputed is that the situation for the civilian population is extremely difficult ... Our appeal to the Israeli government is to flood the Gaza Strip with aid,” he added.

Fischer’s remarks on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza comes on the heels of a FAO global hunger report warning of the dangers the Israeli-Palestinian crisis has wrought.

“The ongoing conflict in Palestine is expected to further aggravate already catastrophic levels of acute hunger, with starvation and death already taking place, alongside the unprecedented death toll, widespread destruction and displacement of nearly the total population of the Gaza Strip – the report warns,” the FAO said.

“In mid-March 2024, famine was projected to occur by the end of May in the two northern governorates of the Gaza Strip, unless hostilities ended, full access was granted to humanitarian agencies, and essential services were restored,” it noted.

The agency warned: “Over one million people – half the population of Gaza – are expected to face death and starvation … by mid-July.”

In other related news, Fischer criticized efforts by Israel’s parliament to designate the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) a terrorist organization.

“You know our position on the UNRWA. It is certainly not a terrorist organization but an international organization set up by the UN, whose important work the international community supports,” the German diplomat said.

The Israeli parliamentary motion is viewed with “the greatest concern” as it endangers the UNRWA’s work in Gaza, he added.

Fischer also said he does not expect that the US Congress will adopt a bill imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it said it would look into a request for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Stressing that the ICC is an “independent institution,” Fischer said: "You know that we are the second-largest financial supporter of the ICC. I think this is a good measure of our stance on the ICC. We have seen the decision of the US House of Representatives. But it has to pass the Senate (too) … I don't think I have given away any secrets by saying we assume it won’t pass," he said.