Many in the international community called for aid to reach Gazans immediately Monday, decrying the ongoing humanitarian situation in the Strip after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lifted the total ban on goods into the territory that has been in place since March.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the situation in Gaza “intolerable,” adding that his government was working with allies to coordinate a response to the conflict.
Speaking alongside him, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “unacceptable” and called for aid to reach civilians in the Strip immediately.
“For two months now, no humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza. Aid must reach civilians in need immediately, and the blockade on Gaza must be lifted now,” she told reporters during her visit to London.
Aid has been blocked from Gaza since March 1, with Israel arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas has been stealing much of that aid, with the blockade necessary to pressure the terror group to release dozens of hostages it is holding. In recent weeks, though, some officials in the IDF have begun warning the political leadership that the enclave was on the brink of starvation.
Netanyahu ordered the immediate resumption of “basic” humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, making a highly unpopular decision among his right-wing circles amid mounting pressure from Washington to end the blockade.
A UN official said 20 aid trucks carrying mostly food were expected to go into the Gaza Strip on Monday.
An Associated Press photographer reported seeing at least three trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Israel to allow the “immediate, massive and unhampered” resumption of aid to Gaza.
“It must put an end to the catastrophic humanitarian situation and definitively end the famine,” he added.
The head of the World Health Organization said his group and other UN agencies were ready to deliver aid into the Strip.
“Two months into the latest blockade, two million people are starving,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, while 160,000 metric tons of food “is blocked at the border just minutes away.”
“The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade,” he added.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, whose country has recognized a Palestinian state since 2014, urged Israel to allow the “unhindered” resumption of humanitarian aid.
“A ceasefire and an end to hostilities are needed, and hostages must be released — not more statements or plans from the Israeli government that exacerbate the situation for civilians in Gaza.”
Gaza has been devastated by the war, which Hamas triggered on October 7, 2023, when it led an invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 abducted as hostages to Gaza. Terrorists in the Strip are still holding 58 hostages, 35 of whom have been confirmed dead by Israel.
Until new distribution centers are established under a US-backed plan to ensure aid doesn’t reach Hamas, Netanyahu stated Monday, Israel must provide minimal aid to the Strip in order to prevent mass starvation among the civilian population. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which has been set up to carry out the new aid plan, has said it will start its operation by the end of the month.
Israel faces mounting international pressure over the blockade on humanitarian deliveries it imposed in March, when a two-month-old ceasefire collapsed and it renewed its offensive, with aid agencies warning of famine in the enclave of 2.3 million people. Jerusalem says the aid blockade is necessary to pressure Hamas to agree to release the hostages it is holding.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez argued Monday that the Eurovision Song Contest should exclude Israel, expressing solidarity with “the people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment.”
Russia did not participate in last weekend’s Eurovision due to its 2022 invasion of Ukraine; “therefore Israel shouldn’t either, because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture,” Sanchez claimed.
Spaniards may feel differently. The country’s televoters gave Israel the maximum of 12 points during Saturday night’s song contest, when Israeli entry Yuval Raphael came second in the total tally of jury and public votes behind Austria, but received the highest score from the European public.