Israel should be pressured to allow aid into Gaza through land: EU foreign policy chief

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - The EU’s foreign policy chief on Thursday called for pressuring Israel to allow aid into the besieged Gaza Strip through land.

“All those concerned about the situation in Gaza should put pressure on Israeli government to grant unimpeded humanitarian land access & not blocking convoys,” Josep Borrell said on X.

“Other options are not enough: airdrops good but insufficient, sea corridors needed but take time. And time is of essence,” he added.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed some 1,200 people.

More than 30,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 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.

In recent days, several countries, including Egypt, the US, Jordan, Qatar and France began airdropping food aid into the war-torn enclave.

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 is accused of genocide by 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.