Germany says ‘Aid to Gaza very insufficient’

BERLIN: The amount of aid entering Gaza remains 'very insufficient' despite a limited improvement, the German government said on Saturday after ministers discussed ways to heighten pressure on Israel. The criticism came after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the region on Thursday and Friday and the German military staged its first food airdrops into Gaza, where aid agencies say that more than two million Palestinians are facing starvation.
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. 'Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid,' Kornelius added. Facing mounting international criticism over its military operations in Gaza, Israel has allowed more trucks to cross the border and some foreign nations to carry out airdrops of food and medicines. International agencies say the amount of aid entering Gaza is still dangerously low, however.
The United Nations has said that 6,000 trucks are awaiting permission from Israel to enter the occupied Palestinian territory. The German government also expressed 'concern regarding reports that large quantities of humanitarian aid are being withheld by Hamas and criminal organisations'. Israel has alleged that much of the aid arriving in the territory is being siphoned off by Hamas, which runs Gaza.
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 said that it had noted that Israel has 'considerably' increased the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza to about 220 a day. 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. 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.
Meanwhile, Israel's top general has warned that there will be no respite in fighting in Gaza if negotiations fail to quickly secure the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory. 'I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages,' said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement. 'If not, the combat will continue without rest,' he said, during remarks to officers inside Gaza.
Aid agencies have meanwhile warned that Gaza's population is facing a catastrophic famine, triggered by Israeli restrictions on aid. Italy said on Friday it would begin air drops over Gaza, which UN-backed experts say is slipping into famine, the latest European countries to do so. 'I have given the green light to a mission involving Army and Air Force assets for the transport and airdrop of basic necessities to civilians in Gaza, who have been severely affected by the ongoing conflict,' Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement.
Italy's air force will work with Jordan's military to air drop special containers containing essential goods, he said. The first drops could come on August 9, he said. Spain on Friday said it had air-dropped 12 tonnes of food into Gaza, joining Britain and France, which have partnered with Middle Eastern nations to deliver sorely needed humanitarian supplies by air to the Palestinian enclave. — AFP