EU urges ‘corridors and pauses’ as UN warns ‘nowhere’ safe in Gaza
AFP :
EU leaders have demanded “humanitarian corridors and pauses” in Israel’s war against Hamas, urging aid access for civilians trapped in besieged Gaza, where the United Nations says “nowhere is safe.”
Concern is growing about the regional fallout from the conflict, with Washington warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it says were used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and others.
Israel has carried out relentless strikes on Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in the deadliest attack since Israel’s creation.
The Israeli strikes have killed more than 7,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, with growing calls for protection of innocents caught in the conflict.
Late Thursday, EU leaders called for “continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs”.
Just 74 trucks of food, water and medicine have been permitted to enter Gaza, home to 2.4 million people, since the conflict began — a figure described by aid groups as vastly insufficient.
Before the conflict, around 500 trucks entered daily, according to the United Nations.
Israel has cut supplies of food, water and power to Gaza and insisted no fuel can be imported as it could be used by Hamas.
That has forced 12 of the territory’s 35 hospitals to close, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has started to “significantly reduce its operations.”
“Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian response, no aid reaching people in need, no electricity for hospitals, no access to clean water, and no availability of bread,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said
Israel defends its operations, with staunch backing from allies including Washington, and has demanded Hamas release 224 foreign and Israeli hostages it seized on October 7.
The fate of the hostages remains a complicating factor for Israel’s planned ground operation.
Hamas’s armed wing said Thursday that “almost 50” Israeli hostages had been killed in Israeli bombing raids, a claim that AFP could not verify.
Four hostages have been released, but for relatives of those left behind, the anguish continues.
“Our lives stopped,” said Moran Betzer Tayar, of the day her nephew and his wife were abducted.
She told a press conference in France she was “worried sick” and desperate to keep the fate of the hostages in the public eye.
Rights groups and international organisations have demanded the immediate release of hostages, who include women and children.