Europe's call for humanitarian pause in Gaza will make a difference, Rutte thinks

The European leaders jointly called on Israel to allow humanitarian corridors into the Gaza Strip and pauses in the fighting for aid to reach the Palestinians. They reached this joint statement at a summit in Brussels on Thursday evening. Prime Minister Mark Rutte thinks the call will make a difference, NOS reports.

It matters that the United States, Europe, and “countries in the region are on the same page,” Rutte said after the summit. “Israel also has an interest in maintaining support.”

"The European Council expresses its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs," the leaders of the 27 EU Member States said.

A humanitarian crisis is happening in the Gaza Strip. Israel has cut off the Palestinian enclave from water, electricity, and fuel. And emergency aid is only dribbling in from Egypt. According to an analysis by the UN, Only 2 percent of the food that normally enters Gaza currently reaches the area. Hospitals have stopped operating because they have run out of fuel. Israel refuses to let fuel in for fear that it will end up in the hands of Hamas.

At the same time, Israel is carrying out a massive amount of bombings on Hamas targets every day. Around 7,000 people have been killed in the coastal strip, including thousands of children. Israel keeps repeating that Hamas uses civilians as living shields.

The EU leaders said they would work closely with regional partners to protect civilians, provide aid, and facilitate access to food, water, healthcare, and shelter. But it must be certain that terrorist organizations don’t abuse this assistance.

Rutte couldn’t say whether more aid supplies would reach the Gaza Strip in the coming days. That “will have to be seen,” he said, adding that all diplomatic efforts are now focused on that. According to him, the delivery of humanitarian aid supplies to the Gaza Strip must be “massively” improved.

Earlier on Thursday, aid organizations Oxfam Novib and Save the Children asked the lower house of the Dutch parliament to insist on a ceasefire and not humanitarian pauses in the fighting. We can’t work in pauses, Michiel Servaes of Oxfam Novib told the parliamentarians.

Differing views on the violence in the Middle East made it uncertain whether the EU leaders would come to a joint call this week. According to NOS, the differences between Germany and Ireland exemplify this.

Germany was one of the first countries to express unconditional support for the Israeli government after the Hamas attack in Israel. Conversely, Ireland focuses much more on the fate of the Palestinians, who have already been living under an apartheid regime for over 70 years. While other European countries reflectively fell in squarely behind Israel, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar immediately stressed that Israel’s response must be proportionate.

Dutch politicians are also grappling with the issue. “The image has emerged that the Cabinet blindly supports Israel in everything that happens,” outgoing Prime Minister Rutte said in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday. The issue isn’t black and white, he said. “The country has to adhere to conditions like international laws of war.”