The European Union urged Israel Tuesday to allow international aid groups to deliver life-saving assistance to Palestinians, warning that relief in Gaza cannot reach the needed scale without them.
Senior EU officials have urged that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is continuing to deteriorate, as winter conditions set in and aid agencies face restrictions on their ability to operate.
In a joint statement, EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and commissioners Hadja Lahbib and Dubravka Suica said civilians in Gaza were facing worsening conditions, with heavy rain, falling temperatures and a lack of safe shelter.
They said children were still out of school and medical facilities were "barely functioning, with minimal staff and equipment."
The European Council also highlighted the urgent need for humanitarian assistance to reach Gaza. It stressed "the need for the rapid, safe and unimpeded delivery and sustained distribution of humanitarian aid, at scale, into and throughout Gaza."
