The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, reiterated this on Monday Israel is causing a famine in Gaza and using hunger as a weapon of war in its offensive against Hamasand called on European countries to take measures to allow Tel Aviv to deliver aid and open more border crossings with the Gaza Strip.
“It is unacceptable that hunger is used as a weapon of war. Let’s say it.” “It’s not a lack of supply, there’s food that’s been withheld for months.”he assured in a speech at the European Humanitarian Forum.
The head of European diplomacy has stated that in the case of Gaza “we are not at risk of famine, but rather we are in a state of famine that affects thousands of people”, and called for European action in the face of a crisis in which this What is not the case is a “natural disaster” caused solely by human decisions.
In this sense, has alerted Israel to the situation in Gaza and arranged for it to be responsible for hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian cargo waiting to enter Gaza and to open more border crossings. “It is imperative that the steps work efficiently. It is a question of political will to open it, and Israel must do it,” he said.
For all these reasons, the High Representative has emphasized that air and sea assistance is an alternative that the international community must adopt because the “natural route” of assistance is “artificially closed”.
Borrell already denounced the situation last week in New York in his speech at the UN Security Council’s annual meeting on cooperation with the EU. “It’s not a flood. It’s not an earthquake. It’s caused by humans.”he hinted, alluding to the humanitarian crisis triggered by Israel’s offensive following the October 7 Hamas attacks.
“As we look for alternative ways to deliver aid – by sea or air – we must remember that we must do it because the natural route of aid delivery via roads is being artificially closed. And hunger is being used as a “weapon of war,” criticized the US Secretary of State.
The worst forecasts for Gaza
Subsequently, Borrel and the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, issued a joint statement denouncing the results of the latest Integrated Classification of Food Safety Phases (IPC), which recorded the “worst forecast” for food safety in the Gaza Strip.
“This is unprecedented. No CPI analysis has ever found such high levels of food insecurity anywhere in the world,” they warned. “What we are seeing is not a natural hazard but a man-made disaster, and it is our moral duty to stop it,” they stressed.
According to this analysis The entire population of Gaza suffers from acute food insecurity. while in the northernmost areas of the Palestinian enclave, 70 percent of residents face impending famine.
In central and southern Gaza, 50 percent of the population faces “catastrophic conditions of food insecurity.” warns the IPC, which expects the situation to deteriorate rapidly in the coming weeks.
“The situation is more than catastrophic. It is absolutely necessary to act now,” he asserted, while calling on Israel to allow access to humanitarian aid “without obstacles” and to cooperate with the United Nations agency. United Nations for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and other organizations.
In this sense, they have pointed out that although “possible” alternatives to the provision of all this assistance have been put forward, including the establishment of aid and maritime corridors, “The most practical and effective solution” is to “completely and unconditionally open” land routes.
Finally, Borrell and Lenarcic pointed out that the level of acute malnutrition has increased at an “alarming” rate and that the international community is already witnessing “with horror” the deaths of children from starvation.
