European foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell has stated that “despite all tactical pauses announced, the situation is that no help is entering Gaza.”
“The help is stockpiling outside of the border,” Borrell said.
“Some of these goods are perishing,” he added.
Borrell asserted that both Hamas and Israel are failing to adhere to US President Joe Biden’s ceasefire plan that the EU is supporting.
“The last declaration from Prime Minister Netanyahu confirms that unfortunately this plan is not going to be implemented. We desperately need a ceasefire that could allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Otherwise, the tragedy will be incommensurable.”
Josep Borrell
Separately, Hanan Balkhy, Head of the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean region, stated that the US-built pier is not sufficient in delivering aid to Gaza.
“The pier has supported a little bit but it’s not to the scale that is needed by any stretch of the imagination,” Balkhy said.
“So we need to emphasise on the land routes to ensure the amount and the quantity and the efficiency,” he added.
Balkhy made the remarks as the US military began delivering aid through the $230m floating pier again, after it was removed a second time because of rough seas.
Since Israel launched its ground operation into Rafah, aid deliveries have declined 67 percent, with more than 50 WHO trucks stuck on the Egyptian side of the crossing.
Meanwhile, WHO said that just three of its trucks have been allowed into Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing.
Also, the European foreign policy Chief said that the Middle East is close to seeing the conflict expanding into Lebanon.
“The risk of this war affecting the south of Lebanon and spilling over is every day bigger,” Borrell told reporters ahead of a foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.
He averred, “We are on the eve of the war expanding.”
Last week, Hezbollah Chief, Hassan Nasrallah threatened to attack the Cyprus, an EU member state, warning Cyprus’ government not to open its airports and bases to Israel.
Up To 21,000 Children Missing In Chaos Of Gaza War
Also on Monday, Save the Children, an aid group, revealed in a new statement that thousands of missing Palestinian children are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, detained by Israeli forces, buried in unmarked graves or lost from their families.
According to the aid group, it is nearly impossible to collect and verify information under the current conditions in Gaza but “at least 17,000 children are believed to be unaccompanied and separated and approximately 4,000 children are likely missing under the rubble, with an unknown number also in mass graves.”
The group added, “Others have been forcibly disappeared, including an unknown number detained and forcibly transferred out of Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their families amidst reports of ill-treatment and torture.”
Jeremy Stoner, the group’s regional director for the Middle East, called for an independent investigation and accountability.
“Families are tortured by the uncertainty of the whereabouts of their loved ones. No parent should have to dig through rubble or mass graves to try and find their child’s body. No child should be alone, unprotected in a war zone. No child should be detained or held hostage.
“Children who are missing but living are vulnerable, face grave protection risks and must be found. They must be protected and reunited with their families.”
Jeremy Stoner
Stoner also noted that for the children who have been killed, “their deaths must be formally marked, their families informed, burial rites respected, and accountability sought.”
“As many have pointed out, Gaza has become a graveyard for children, with thousands of others missing, their fates unknown,” he said.
He made a call for peace, saying, “We desperately need a ceasefire to find and support the missing children who have survived, and to prevent more families from being destroyed.”
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