20 dec 2023 om 16:06
The outgoing cabinet is releasing another 25 million euros for support to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. The Netherlands will thus double emergency aid to the area.
Outgoing ministers Geoffrey van Leeuwen (Development Cooperation) and Hanke Bruins Slot (Foreign Affairs) visited the Egyptian side of the border post at Rafah on Wednesday. The new contribution is intended for water, food, fuel and medical care in the Gaza Strip, among other things.
“The situation in Gaza is dire and the needs are enormous,” Van Leeuwen wrote in a statement. “My three priorities are full humanitarian access, substantially more aid including much-needed fuel for the people of Gaza, and the safety of aid workers in Gaza.”
Van Leeuwen and Bruins Slot spoke at the border post with representatives of the Egyptian aid organization Red Crescent. After his visit to Egypt, Van Leeuwen will travel to Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
In October, the government also released money twice for the people of Gaza. The first time it was 10 million euros and the second time it was 15 million euros.
Hanke Bruins Slot and Geoffrey van Leeuwen speak to the media at the border post in Rafah. Photo: EPA
UN warns of humanitarian disaster
The United Nations has been warning of a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip for some time. Aid is finding it difficult to enter the area. Israel checks all aid supplies before transporting them to Gaza.
For a long time, aid convoys could only enter Gaza via the border post in Rafah. The Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel has also been open since Sunday.
Densely populated Gaza has been under almost constant bombardment since Hamas’s attack on Israel in early October. More than three quarters of the 2.3 million Palestinian inhabitants have fled.
About twelve hundred people were killed in the Hamas attack and more than two hundred people were taken as hostages to Gaza. About half of them have now been released in a prisoner exchange. Negotiators are working to finalize another exchange deal.
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Men on trucks protect aid convoy in Gaza
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Image: AFP
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IsraelPalestinian TerritoriesForeignIsraeli-Palestinian conflict
2023-12-20 15:06:00
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