EU and Israel reach Gaza aid deal, Kallas says

The EU and Israel have reached an agreement to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, with deliveries to take place in the "coming days", the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas announced on Thursday.

The breakthrough comes after months of back and forth between the EU and Israel over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, as Israel escalates its offensive against Hamas.

The accord includes a “substantial increase of daily trucks for food and non-food items to enter Gaza” through the opening of several other crossing points in both the northern and southern areas, as well as the reopening of the Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes, Kallas said in a statement.

Bakeries and public kitchens would once again be allowed to distribute food, and fuel deliveries to humanitarian facilities would also resumed, she added.

“These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,” the statement continued.

“This deal results as the outcome of the dialogue that [Kallas] has launched with the foreign minister" Gideon Saar, a European Commission spokesperson said.

An internal EU review of Israel’s trade agreement with the bloc, seen by Euractiv last month, had found "indications of a breach" of the human rights commitments outlined under the deal.

Most recently, calls by some EU countries had intensified for the imposition of sanctions against Israel. The EU has drawn up an options paper, seen by Euractiv, including a range possible punitive measures. EU foreign ministers will discuss them next Tuesday.

In recent weeks, an EU technical team led by the bloc’s Middle East envoy, Christophe Bigot, has been sent to Israel for talks.

(om)