Prime Minister Rutte urges Israel to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza

Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte has urged Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu that "dramatically more aid must be allowed for the innocent residents of Gaza as a matter of urgency." This requires humanitarian breaks, Rutte said during a telephone conversation with Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon.

"They now need water, food, fuel and medical aid. This is also necessary for the world to continue supporting Israel." The possibility of supplying Gaza by sea from Cyprus was also discussed.

Rutte told the Israeli leader that restraint in military action is "necessary" "to prevent regional escalation and as many innocent civilian deaths as possible." He reiterated that while Israel has the right to defend itself, it "is also required to demonstrate that it is acting proportionately."

Many aid organizations have sharply criticized the lack of a humanitarian cease-fire. The distress of the people in the Gaza Strip is growing, while aid supplies are reaching Gaza sparsely. "This is also the reason why the international community and Mark Rutte keep spreading this message," Yeşilgöz stressed.

On Sunday, Israel reopened a second water pipeline to the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel. But that extra water does not seem to be enough to meet the needs of the Palestinian population.

According to the authorities, 28.5 million liters of water per day are now flowing into the Gaza Strip. Before the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas three weeks ago, the figure would have been 49 million liters per day. Two days after the violent attack, Israel decided to impose a total blockade of Gaza because it did not want Hamas fighters to be able to receive supplies in the area. This meant that no more water, food, medicine, or fuel from Israel entered the territory.

On the TV program Buitenhof, outgoing minister Yeşilgöz stated that “'Truths can coexist. That you condemn terror, that you stand up for people who are hostage, that you do not support Israeli policy, and that you know that the Palestinian cause has nothing to do with Hamas."

The Netherlands' abstention from the UN resolution calling for a humanitarian cease-fire was strongly criticized in politics and society. "The resolution takes too little account of the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization and that people are still being held hostage," Yeşilgöz said.

According to the outgoing minister, the resolution also did not make it clear what exactly the ceasefire would entail. “When you say, cease-fire, you are telling Israel that the right to self-defense is also gone.” According to Yeşilgöz, the resolution lacked balance.