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Germany calls Gaza aid ‘very insufficient', pressures Israel for more access
Despite some progress, the amount of aid entering Gaza remains 'very insufficient,' according to the German government, which met on Saturday to consider ways to put further pressure on Israel.
The criticism came after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the region on Thursday and Friday, when the German military conducted its first food airdrops into Gaza, where humanitarian agencies estimate that more than two million Palestinians are starving.
Germany 'notes limited initial progress in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which, however, remains very insufficient to alleviate the emergency situation,' government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement.
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'Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid,' Kornelius stated.
Faced with rising worldwide criticism for its military actions in Gaza, Israel has permitted more trucks to enter the border and some foreign nations to conduct airdrops of food and medication.
According to international groups, the amount of aid entering Gaza remains dangerously low.
According to the United Nations, 6,000 vehicles are awaiting permission from Israel to enter the occupied Palestinian territories.
The German government, a long-time supporter of Israel, has expressed 'concern regarding reports that large quantities of humanitarian aid are being withheld by Hamas and criminal organisations.'
Israel claims that Hamas, which controls Gaza, siphons off much of the aid that arrives in the region.
The Israeli army is accused of having equipped Palestinian criminal networks in its fight against Hamas and of allowing them to plunder aid deliveries.
'The real theft of aid since the beginning of the war has been carried out by criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces,' Jonathan Whittall of OCHA, the United Nations agency for coordinating humanitarian affairs, told reporters in May.
A German government source told AFP it had noted that Israel has 'considerably' increased the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza to about 220 a day.
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Berlin has taken a tougher line against Israel's actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in recent weeks.
The source said that a German security cabinet meeting on Saturday discussed 'the different options' for putting pressure on Israel, but no decision was taken.
A partial suspension of arms deliveries to Israel is one option that has been raised.
Hamas militants launched an attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's military offensive on Gaza since then has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The UN considers the ministry's figures reliable.
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