Italy's foreign minister presents 'Food for Gaza' initiative to Israeli, Palestinian counterparts

By Nur Asena Erturk –

Italy's foreign minister presented the "Food for Gaza" humanitarian initiative Friday to his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, according to a statement.

Antonio Tajani held telephone conversations with Israel Katz from Israel and Palestinian Riad Maliki, said the Italian Foreign Ministry.

Tajani explained that the initiative was launched by Italy with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to alleviate “the suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip by joining forces to address the extremely serious humanitarian crisis."

"Joining forces to help civilians is not a slogan but a moral obligation, we must act quickly," he said.

Tajani also emphasized the need for "a pause in hostilities as essential to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza" during his conversation with Katz.

He told Maliki that "the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza is unacceptable," and vowed efforts "to alleviate the suffering of the population."

Italy teamed up Monday with international organizations active in the field in Gaza to provide Palestinians suffering from the war, access to humanitarian aid.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, in which 1,163 people were killed.

At least 31,490 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and 73,439 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most 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 at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.