Regularly, NU.nl provides you with an overview of the developments in the war between Israel and Hamas. This time: The United States donates millions to the controversial aid organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. In addition, more than seventy people were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The U.S. State Department has approved $30 million (25 million euros) in funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the ministry announced Thursday. To date, it is the first financial contribution from the U.S. government to the controversial aid organization.
According to a ministry spokesperson, the support is “just the latest step” in the American pursuit of peace in the region. The White House called on other countries to also support the GHF.
According to the United Nations, more than four hundred Palestinians have already been killed while seeking aid from both the UN and the GHF. The GHF has supposedly secured distribution points for emergency aid in Gaza. Experts previously described those distribution points as a “genocidal method for ethnic cleansing.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) was allowed to deliver medical assistance again on Thursday for the first time since the Israeli blockade on March 2. On May 19, Israel allowed limited emergency aid from the UN through.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday morning that he “sees room for peace” now that the war with Iran is over.
Netanyahu wrote in a statement “that there is an opportunity they must not miss”. According to the Prime Minister, the condition is that all hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated.
Since Thursday morning, 71 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes throughout Gaza. That’s according to the broadcaster Al Jazeera based on data from hospitals.
EU leaders did not make a decision on Thursday at the two-day EU summit in Brussels to suspend the association agreement with Israel. This is apparent from the final declaration of the first day of the summit on the Middle East.
The EU Foreign Affairs Ministers will continue to discuss possible follow-up steps in July. In doing so, they will take into account “the development of the situation on the ground”.
EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas concluded earlier this week after investigation that Israel is acting in violation of the treaty. The country would not comply with human rights and democratic principles. Kallas will discuss this with Israel and report to the Foreign Affairs Ministers in July.
Spain and Ireland said before the summit that the EU must attach measures to the violation of the treaty. A majority of the House of Representatives also believes that the violation cannot remain without consequences. Other countries, such as Germany, consider a (partial) suspension of the treaty unacceptable.