EU offers help to distribute aid in Gaza
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday said that Brussels had made an offer to Israel to help distribute aid in Gaza as the blockade there raises fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The proposal came as the Netherlands renewed calls for a review of a cooperation agreement between the EU and Israel over the situation in the territory.
Kallas said that she had discussed the plan for EU involvement in handing out aid in a call with her Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, on Tuesday.
"I also offered help from the European Union to distribute the humanitarian aid if they don't trust the other actors there," she told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw.
UN agencies have repeatedly warned of the impending humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with the crisis worsened by an Israeli blockade on all aid since early March.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said in late April that it had depleted all its food stocks in Gaza due to the blockade.
Israel resumed major operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce.
On Sunday, Israel's security cabinet approved a plan for expanded military operations in Gaza that would include displacing most residents of the Palestinian territory.
Given the deteriorating situation, the Netherlands on Wednesday called for a review of the potential association agreement currently being discussed between the European Union and Israel.
The 27-nation bloc has been split over its approach to Israel and the war in Gaza, with Spain and Ireland last year calling for the EU to suspend its association agreement with Israel due to abuses they allege were committed in Gaza.
Kallas said EU ministers would discuss the matter during their meeting in Warsaw.
"It's time for the European Union and for the whole international community to wake up," said Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prevot on Wednesday.
"People of Gaza urgently need humanitarian support. Women, children are starving. So I'm waiting for a strong reaction of the EU," he added.