After almost three months of total blocking of humanitarian aid, the Israeli military authorities have allowed some dozens of truck with humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip again. The decision, which arrived between 19 and 20 May, is the consequence of the First international pressures On the far -right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the last few days, in fact, also historical allies of Israel have protested for the New offensive of the Israeli army in progress in Gazawhich now has the explicit goal of conquering the Palestinian lands and closing over two million inhabitants in some areas isolated in the area without the possibility of exiting the rubble and famine.
Despite this, the United Nations present in the Strip made it known that The trucks were immediately blockedand that the aids have been retained by the Israeli security forces and have not yet been distributed to the GazaWi.
Faced with the gravity of the situation, The European Union has launched the review of the association agreement with Israelwhile the United Kingdom, France and Canada are threatening penalties for human rights violations.
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Israel and Gaza: tens of thousands of Palestinians at risk of death from hunger
International public opinion and numerous governments are also the very serious food crisis unleashed by the embargo, which according to NGO and international observers has already caused the death from hunger for over 300 Palestinian children only from 2 March last. According to what was declared on May 20 by Tom Fletcher, Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations, at the moment they are More than 14,000 children risk dying from malnutrition in the next 48 hoursdue to the total blockade of humanitarian aid imposed by Israel 11 weeks ago.
In addition, the arrival of aid to the population is slowed down and hindered by Decision of the Government of Netanyahu to prevent UNRWA (the UN agency that deals with the assistance to the Palestinians) to deal directly with the storage e distribution of aid. The assignment was in fact entrusted to Cogat, the Israeli military body that supervises humanitarian aid. This is why Fletcher asked the Israeli authorities of “open at least two passes in Gaza, one in the north and the other to the south; simplify and accelerate procedures and remove any contingent; eliminate the impediments to access within Gaza and not lead attacks in the areas and moments when deliveries take place; Allow us to cover the entire range of needs – food, water, hygiene, cover, health, fuel, gas and more ».
The United Nations Manager also reiterated that to “reduce looting, there must be a regular flow of aid and humanitarian operators must be authorized to use multiple paths. Commercial goods must integrate the humanitarian response ».
The trucks from Israel are blocked by the Tel Aviv government
While the accusations against the Israeli government to use the hunger as a war weapon against the civilian populationin what seems like a collective punishment of the Palestinians For the actions of the terrorist organization of Hamas, on May 19 the government of Tel Aviv declared that it had authorized the entry into the Gaza strip of 5 trucks of humanitarian aid through the Kerem Shalom pass, followed on Tuesday 20 May by another 93. A truly negligible figure, counting that (according to the estimates) Several hundreds per day would be neededespecially after three months of total blockade. As Fletcher said, “it is a drop in the ocean compared to what is urgently necessary».
However, as anticipated at the opening, the trucks that entered not many hours ago are blocked due to the restrictions from the Tel Aviv governmenttherefore none of the goods on board was distributed to the population.
The retaliation of the European Union against Israel
In this devastating scenario of famine and lack of water, the Gazawi are blocked in the curtains (92% of the houses, in fact, are unusable due to the continuous Israeli bombings) without exitgiven that 62% of the roads are damaged or destroyed (however lower percentage than that of hospitals, almost all completely destroyed).
Thus, between bombings, stratifications of rubble and artillery strokes continues the Israeli military offensive in the north and south of the Gaza Strip. In front of the evidence of these facts and the continuous pressure of many European civilians on institutions, the European Council of Foreign and Defense Ministers he decided to meet on May 20 voted with a large majority (17 out of 27 countries) for one Revision of commercial relations between the European Union and the State of Israelclaiming that Tel Aviv violated the association treaty with Israel signed in 1995 and in force since 2000.
In point 2 of the agreement, it is read that the signatory countries undertake to “respect human rights and democratic principles”. The proposal to question the treaty came from the Netherlands and passed with the favorable voteamong others of France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Ireland and Austria. Italy, Germany, Hungary and Croatia have lined up against the decision.
The proposal of Sweden has not passed to hit with penalties Some ministers of Benjamin Netanyahu, in particular those expression of the most nationalist and extremist wing of the government. The measure was blocked due to the Veto of Hungary.
Now the ball passes to European Commission, which must verify the seriousness of these violations And consequently decide whether to stop a series of bilateral relations with Israel.
