Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign-policy chief, asked Israel on Saturday to protect civilians in Gaza and to let aid in, as winter and flooding worsen the crisis. G4Media, citing Politico, writes that the European Union restates its “grave concern.” Thursday’s airstrike on Nasser Hospital is called “deeply alarming.”

In the statement, Kallas says the floods and the winter conditions are making life harder for an already exhausted population. She asks Israel to respect international law, to allow the UN and humanitarian organisations unimpeded access, and to reopen all crossings. A year after the ceasefire was announced, the strikes continue, and shelter, medicine and medical equipment remain short because of the restrictions.

The text published by the Council adds that the aid commitments in the plan to end the conflict must be carried out, and that aid must not be diverted by armed groups. The EU restates the two-state solution and asks for Security Council resolution 2803 to be carried out: Hamas disarmed, Israeli forces withdrawn, a civilian transition. Hamas should have no role in the future government of Gaza.

G4Media writes that Israel rejected the charge that it is blocking aid. Benjamin Netanyahu defended the volume of aid and said Israel supports the winter preparations, but will not let Hamas use the humanitarian supplies.

The Jerusalem Post carries the Foreign Ministry’s reply: the EU statement is “completely unbalanced,” rewards Hamas’s refusal to disarm and ignores the diversion of aid. The military says the number of tents rose from over 91,000 on Monday to over 93,000, and the trucks with winter supplies from 8,200 to over 8,600.

G4Media recalls that contact between minister Gideon Sa’ar and Kallas broke off in June, after a report that she had compared Israel to apartheid-era South Africa. The same report notes that she has backed pressure for a ban on trade with the occupied territories. On the war, G4Media writes that it began after the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, with about 1,200 dead and 250 hostages, and that more than 70,000 people have been killed in the enclave since.

Image: Wikimedia Commons — the European Commission building in Brussels, 11 November 2012 (Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0). The photo is not from Saturday’s statement and does not show Gaza.

Sources consulted: Kallas asks for aid access to Gaza — G4Media; Statement by the High Representative on Gaza — European Council; Israel criticises the EU statement on Gaza — The Jerusalem Post.