Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
EU diplomat Kaja Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Brussels Alamy Stock Photo
The Morning Lead
'Utterly shameful': Irish MEPs slam EU offer to assist Israel in replacing Gaza aid agencies
The offer was made on the same day that UN agencies condemned Israel’s proposal.
AN OFFER MADE by the European Union’s top diplomat to assist Israel in replacing aid agencies in Gaza has been described as “utterly shameful” and “against what we stand for” by two Irish MEPs.
On Wednesday evening, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said she had offered Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar EU assistance with his government’s proposal to take over the distribution of aid in the besieged Palestinian territory, where Israel has imposed a complete blockade since early March.
Since then, no food, water or medical supplies have entered Gaza and Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the siege is “clearly a war crime” and that Israel’s war “has lost any moral compass”.
“I offered also help by the European Union to distribute the humanitarian aid if they don’t trust the other actors there,” Kallas told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw.
Kallas apparently contradicted her own statement issued on Wednesday, which raised concerns about the Israeli proposal, saying it “runs counter to humanitarian principles, as underlined by UN agencies and humanitarian partners”.
The Journal understands that Kallas made the offer without consulting her colleagues and that her remarks do not reflect the EU’s official position.
Irish MEPs spoke to The Journal and expressed concern about Kallas’ offer of EU assistance.
“Rather than offering to assist in their plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, the EU should be imposing the most severe sanctions on Israel, and leading calls for a permanent ceasefire,” said Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews said: “Israel’s current proposal to bypass and undermine established humanitarian actors and take direct control of aid distribution is deeply alarming.”
Both MEPs said assisting Israel in taking over aid distribution would go against core humanitarian principles and undermine the work of the United Nations.
Kallas made her comments on the same day that UN agencies condemned Israel’s plan to take over aid distribution.
A spokesperson for the UN’s aid coordination office, OCHA, said it “appears to be a deliberate attempt to weaponise the aid and we have warned against that for a very long time”.
Amnesty International told The Journal “the EU must unequivocally reject” the plan and ensure the bloc “is not complicit in Israel’s genocide, whether directly or indirectly”.
There are 15 UN agencies operating in Gaza – including the likes of UNRWA, UNICEF and the World Food Programme – alongside roughly 200 NGOs.
‘Beyond belief’
According to Lynn Boylan, Kallas’ offer of EU participation in the Israeli plan undermines the United Nations agencies working in Gaza.
“Kaja Kallas’ comments around finding an ‘alternative’ to UNRWA are utterly shameful and a complete betrayal of international law,” Boylan told The Journal.
“Instead of undermining the work of UNRWA, Ms Kallas should focus on who is responsible for blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza at every opportunity,” Boylan said.
It is truly beyond belief to make this offer mere days after Israel announced their intention to indefinitely occupy Gaza.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews told The Journal that the EU has a duty to ensure that aid is delivered “according to the core humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence, and humanity”.
Aligning with Israel’s proposed model would not only go against what we stand for, it would also set a dangerous global precedent.
“It is of the utmost importance that aid remains separate from politicisation, militarisation and weaponisation.”
He also said that normalising “the politicisation and instrumentalisation” of humanitarian aid would blur the lines between civilian and military roles.
“Fragmenting the humanitarian response system not only risks the lives of those on the ground, but also severely damages the legitimacy and effectiveness of aid delivery.”
Boylan said that Israel has “forced supplies to rot at the border, attacked aid vessels in international waters and tried to cover up their murder of aid workers”.
“Offering to assist Israel in taking over ‘the distribution of aid’ in the Gaza Strip is handing them total power to weaponise starvation and deprivation.”
Ireland and a number of other EU member states have consistently voiced support for UN agencies working in Gaza, particularly UNRWA, while the Israeli government has levelled attacks at the UN throughout the conflict.
The Israeli parliament voted to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel in January of this year after accusing the organisation of being staffed by members of Hamas.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu told the General Assembly last year that the UN was an “antisemitic swamp” while Israeli officials have also taken aim at the UN’s International Court of Justice, where the country stands accused of committing genocide against the people of Gaza.
Netanyahu himself is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
Earlier this week, a group of more than 20 UN experts said countries were at a moral crossroads over their response to Israel’s escalation of hostilities and ongoing siege of Gaza.
States face a choice between acting to halt the violence and looking on at “the annihilation of the Palestinian population” in the territory, the experts said.
“The decision is stark: remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution,” they said in a statement, urging the world to avert the “moral abyss we are descending into”.
have your say