Humanitarian situation in Gaza is untenable: EU

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday she told her Israeli counterpart in a call that the situation in Gaza is “untenable” and aid deliveries must restart now.

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“Humanitarian aid must resume immedi-ately and should never be politicised. The new aid delivery mechanism should run through humanitarian actors,” Kallas wrote on X.

Israel has blockaded all entrances to the Gaza Strip since March.

While pummeling the strip with airstrikes, it has banned any food, water, shelter or medication from being trucked into the Palestinian territory, where the UN says the vast majority of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. Of the 59 captives remaining in Gaza, 24 are believed to still be alive.

The current blockade has lasted longer than any previous Israeli halt in aid to Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel froze aid to Gaza for two weeks.

Now, Gaza is entering its third month without supplies. Thousands of trucks queue along the border of the territory, waiting to be let in. Community kitchens are closing down and bakeries are running out of fuel. Families spend hours waiting in line for small portions of rice.