Humanitarian aid to Gaza still below what was agreed with Israel: EU report

BRUSSELS — Aid access to Gaza has improved thanks to resumed fuel deliveries but is still below what was agreed between the EU and Israel, says an EU report seen by POLITICO.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza “continues to remain very severe” says the report prepared by the EU’s External Action Service and the European Commission on the implementation of the EU-Israel deal reached last month to increase humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Since May 27, “at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food,” the report found.

The four-page report also said that “significant obstructive factors continue to undermine humanitarian operations and aid delivery.” It covers the period from July 29 until Aug. 4 and was distributed on Tuesday evening to diplomats.

The growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is straining ties between the EU and Israel.

“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook. “If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning.”

However, the EU report noted that there are some “notable positive new developments” under the deal, like the “resumption of fuel delivery, which has stopped for 130 days,” the reopening of Egyptian and Jordanian routes into Gaza and the reopening of the Zikim crossing point in the north of the territory — though “the volume of aid is still limited.”

It noted that there an “upward trend in the number of daily trucks entering Gaza,” although “the numbers are still below” what had been agreed.

Between the end of last month and the start of August an “average of 125,000 litres of fuel per day” entered Gaza. However, the EU and Israel had agreed to allow the entry of fuel tankers carrying up to 196,000 liters per day, said an EU diplomat.

The current volume of fuel entering Gaza is now “enough to sustain critical life-saving operations but not sufficient to allow all humanitarian programmes to run,” said the report.

The report is based on evidence and information collected from humanitarian partners, like the United Nations and the Red Cross, as well as from EU delegations, adding that there are discrepancies with numbers provided by Israel.

It also complained that the Commission wasn’t in the position to verify information on the ground as Israel is not allowing access “neither at high-level (Director-General) nor at operational level.”

In the period covered by report, the U.N. and the other EU partners reported that 463 trucks were offloaded at crossing points in Gaza, while Israel estimated 737 trucks. But Israel’s figures include also the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial food aid organization backed by the U.S. and Israel whose numbers are not part of the deal with the EU.

Among the factors that still undermine the delivery of humanitarian aid is that the “security and safety in Gaza continue to be a major concern” while Israeli airstrikes still affect U.N. and NGO facilities and “notification mechanisms have not improved.”

Activities in areas under the evacuation orders from the Israeli army, which cover 88 percent of Gaza’s territory, “are limited, given the increased likelihood of staff being targeted.”