Germany says more humanitarian aid for Gaza is its ‘big political priority’

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - The German government said on Monday that providing more urgently needed humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza is its “big political priority.”

Berlin is “working intensively to ensure that more humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza. It is our big political priority that more humanitarian aid comes into Gaza,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner told media representatives in Berlin.

Asked about Israel’s decision to prevent the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, from operating in northern Gaza, Wagner replied while he could not give any assessment yet, "any news that gives the impression that the already insufficient humanitarian aid is being reduced again is of course not a good thing.”

Israel had informed UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini over the weekend that they would no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north.

“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” Lazzarini warned on the social media platform X.

Israel has accused 12 of UNRWA’s 30,000 employees of involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Several Western countries, including the US, suspended their funding to the UN refugee agency pending investigations into the Israeli allegations.

The EU, Canada and Sweden, however, later announced that they would proceed with funding for UNRWA as Israel has yet to present any evidence publicly to support its allegations.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The agency provides crucial support to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinians live.

Meanwhile, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit warned Israel against a ground military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, but unlike the US, ruled out possible political consequences for Tel Aviv should it decide to storm the city.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,500 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.