EU, UK and Japan urge action against ‘famine unfolding’ in Gaza
France urges Israel to grant journalists ‘safe’ access to Gaza
AFP
BRUSSELS: The European Union, Britain and Japan on Tuesday called for urgent action to stop “famine” in the Gaza Strip.
“The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels. Famine is unfolding before our eyes,” a joint statement signed by the EU’s top diplomat and foreign ministers from 24 countries, including Canada and Australia.
“Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation,” they said.
UN-mandated experts have warned that Gaza is slipping into famine while international organisations have for months condemned the restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on aid distribution in Gaza.
The ministers and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also demanded Israel “provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating”.
Seventeen European Union countries signed the statement, including France, the Netherlands and usually pro-Palestinian countries such as Ireland and Spain.
Notably absent was Germany, Israel’s staunch supporter in the EU, despite its drastic move to halt the export of military equipment to Israel last week.
Israel has until recently enjoyed broad support across the political spectrum in Germany, a country still seeking to atone for the World War II murder of more than six million Jews.
The EU struck a deal last month to increase aid access to Gaza but senior officials have said the agreement has not been implemented fully.
Meanwhile, France condemned “the heavy toll paid by local journalists” in Gaza and called on the Israeli authorities to guarantee “safe and unhindered access” for international media.
Condemning the Israeli strike that killed several journalists in Gaza, the French foreign ministry said that the journalists were targeted while “carrying out their reporting duties”.
Israel confirmed it had targeted Anas al-Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent, whom it labelled a “terrorist” affiliated with Hamas, saying he “posed as a journalist”.
“Journalists must never be targeted,” Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said in a statement, adding that they were protected by international humanitarian law.
International journalists “must be able to operate freely and independently to document the reality of the conflict”, Confavreux added.
Almost 200 journalists have been killed in the war Israel launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters, as well as the BBC, in July called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza.
