Germany says ‘very insufficient' aid entering Gaza
The criticism came after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the region on Thursday and Friday and the German military carried out its first food airdrops into Gaza. According to aid agencies, more than two million Palestinians in Gaza 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.
But international agencies say the amount of aid entering Gaza is still dangerously low, however. According to the United Nations, 6,000 trucks are awaiting permission from Israel to enter Palestinian territory.
The German government, traditionally a strong supporter of Israel, 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.
However, 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.
Hamas militants launched an attack in Israel in October 2023, that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's military offensive on Gaza since then has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. The UN consider the ministry's figures reliable.
(cs)
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