Top EU diplomat blames Israel for Gaza ‘famine’
EUROPEAN UNION foreign policy chief Josep Borrell this week accused Israel of provoking a famine in Gaza.
Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said during a conference in Brussels on humanitarian aid for Palestine that “starvation is used as a weapon of war”.
He went on: “In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people.
“This famine is not a natural disaster. It’s not a flood, it’s not an earthquake. It is entirely man-made.
“Hundreds of trucks are waiting to enter.
“We send parachutes to a place that is one hour by car from the next airport. Why don’t you send it by airport? Because they don’t [allow it]. This is unacceptable.”
A number of international organisations have claimed that up to half the population in Gaza is facing starvation as a result of the war with Israel.
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz refuted Borrell’s statement on Monday, writing on X/Twitter: “Israel allows extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help.
“Despite Hamas violently disrupting aid convoys and Unrwa’s collaboration with them, we persist.”
He added that Borrell should “stop attacking Israel and recognise our right to self-defence against Hamas’s crimes”.
Several countries have airdropped aid packages to Gaza as concerns over the population’s humanitarian situation have intensified.
Israel has been accused of blocking the passage of trucks carrying aid through its border crossings. British-born Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy posted about these accusations on X/Twitter: “Yesterday 8 million lbs of food entered Gaza by land. That’s 4lbs of food per capita. “That’s not famine, starvation, or catastrophic food insecurity.
“I’m sorry if the facts are awkward for your efforts to help Hamas rapists survive 10/7 and live to fight another day.”