Malta is among 26 countries calling on Israel to let a “flood” of aid into Gaza and allow humanitarian organisations to operate in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
In a joint statement, foreign ministers from countries including Canada, France and the UK, together with three senior figures from the European Commission, said the “humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels”.
“Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicised”, the group said.
“We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.”
Two weeks ago, UN agencies warned Gaza was slipping into famine amid Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.
The signatories noted that due to “restrictive new registration requirements”, essential international NGOs “may be forced to leave the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] imminently, which would worsen the humanitarian situation still further”.
Last week, the UN warned that rules introduced by Israel in March requiring all NGOs to submit ID and contact details of all representatives and workers in Palestine, including foreign workers, meant “most international NGO partners could be de-registered by September 9 or sooner”.
The statement stressed that “Immediate, permanent and concrete steps must be taken to facilitate safe, large-scale access for the UN, international NGOs and humanitarian partners”.
“All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment.”
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in March after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation.
Subsequent “tactical pauses” in the fighting allowed some aid trucks in through two border crossings and by airdrops.
While deliveries have since increased, a UN monitor said they would not prove enough unless aid agencies were granted immediate humanitarian access, according to AFP.
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Turning to reports of those seeking food being targeted, the signatories said: “Lethal force must not be used at distribution sites, and civilians, humanitarians and medical workers must be protected.”
Last month, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council that “food is running out” in Gaza, with starvation rates among children reaching its highest levels last month. Those seeking food “risk being shot”.
One Palestinian woman in Gaza told Times of Malta last month that one of her husband’s travelling companions had been shot “randomly” by Israeli troops while the pair were on their way to the nearest food kitchen around a kilometre away, an occurrence she said was not outside the norm.
The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas, Mediterranean commissioner Dubravka Šuica and humanitarian aid commissioner Hadja Lahbib were also among the signatories.