Germany reiterates call to Israel to allow entry of more humanitarian aid into Gaza

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Germany on Thursday repeated its call to Israel to allow the entry of more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"People risk their lives fighting over food parcels dropped from the air because not enough trucks are coming into Gaza. Children collect weeds to give their siblings something to eat. Babies are dying of dehydration and malnutrition in barely functioning hospitals," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.

Announcing that Germany will provide another €20 million ($21.6 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza, she noted: “The number of trucks bringing life-saving food, medicine and other supplies to Gaza has fallen sharply in recent weeks. This is not acceptable.”

Against this backdrop, Baerbock urged Israel to provide safe and unhindered humanitarian access as recently demanded by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.

“If sufficient trucks (carrying aid) cannot get through, help will have to come to the people from the air if necessary,” she added.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and over 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.