The EU has so far taken no joint action against Israel, despite an internal review finding “indications” Israel had broken its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Israel’s occupation of Gaza and other Palestinian territories is is illegal, according to an International Court of Justice ruling in July.
More than 200 people have starved to death in Gaza since Oct. 2023, including 106 children, Palestinian health officials said Aug. 13. The numbers include eight who died in the previous 24 hours.
Israeli restrictions on food, including a total ban between March and May, have brought Gaza to the point of “unfolding famine,” scientists have warned. European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook that Israel’s conduct in Gaza “looks very much” like genocide, a charge denied by Israel.
Just 1,535 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the past 17 days, far short of what is needed to meet the minimum needs of the territory’s 2.4 million people, Palestinian health officials said Aug. 13. Israel and European governments, including France, Germany and Spain, have organized airdrops, but NGOs say these are a dangerous and unhelpful distraction. Palestinian nurse Oday al-Quraan was killed by an air-dropped parcel on Aug. 4, The Independent reported.
U.S. nonprofit Anera said it had $7 million worth of aid stranded in Ashdod, several kilometers from Gaza, because of Israeli restrictions. “The answer, to save lives, save humanity and save yourselves from complicity in engineered mass starvation, is to open all the borders, at all hours, to the thousands of trucks, millions of meals and medical supplies, ready and waiting nearby,” said Anera’s president and CEO Sean Carroll.
POLITICO has contacted the Israeli government for comment.