Israel has returned to bombard Gaza this morning, leaving at least 55 Palestinians dead, according to local medical sources, just when the international pressure reached its highest point. The military offensive continues without brake, despite the calls to the high fire and the warnings of possible sanctions by some of its closest partners. Gaza, devastated for more than seven months of attacks, is on the verge of humanitarian collapse, while the Israeli government insists on its goal of ending Hamas through an unprecedented military campaign.
In parallel, the international scene has become increasingly uncomfortable for Israel. The European Union has taken the step of reviewing its association agreement with the Jewish State for possible violations of international humanitarian law, and the United Kingdom has suspended trade negotiations with Tel Aviv. Spain, on the other hand, has initiated the parliamentary process of a law that would allow the sale of arms to countries involved in war crimes, an initiative that points directly to the current Israeli offensive on the strip.
As a gesture to try to decompress that growing pressure, Israel has first authorized in weeks the entry of humanitarian aid from United Arab Emirates. The agreement contemplates the urgent shipping of food and supplies for some 15,000 Palestinian civilians, but the UN denounces that cargoes are not yet reaching those who need them. On the ground, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate: the distribution of food is paralyzed, hospitals lack the basics and almost the entire Gazatí population suffers extreme food insecurity.
International pressure, at unpublished levels
The Israeli military offensive has tensioned like never its relations with the West. After more than seven months of continuous bombing over Gaza, and with a number of deaths that exceeds 53,000 – including more than 16,200 children, according to local health authorities – the international community has raised the tone against the government of Benjamín Netanyahu.
The European Union, in an unprecedented decision since the beginning of the conflict, has announced a review of the Association Agreement with Israel. Seventeen of the twenty -seven Member States have supported the initiative, promoted by Dutch Minister Caspar Veldkamp, to evaluate whether Israel is breaching the clause of respect for human rights that governs its relations with Brussels. “The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The help that Israel has allowed to enter is, of course, welcome, but it is a drop in the ocean. The aid must flow immediately, without already large -scale obstructions,” said Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and high representative of the EU for exterior and security.
The Israeli response was immediate. The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, Oren Marmorstein, accused Kallas of having a “totally wrong understanding of the complex reality facing Israel” and said that European criticisms “reinforce Hamas’s position.” In addition, he defended that Tel Aviv has already authorized the entry of 93 trucks with supplies, a fact that the United Nations contradicts: so far, no cargo has reached the distribution points of Gaza, where more than two million people survive in extreme conditions.
The United Kingdom has also joined the European position. The Keir Starmer government has suspended its commercial conversations with Israel and has summoned the Israeli ambassador to London for the “atrocious policies” who, according to Downing Street, are being applied both in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank. France and Canada have also requested immediate fire and have warned of “concrete actions” if the humanitarian situation does not improve.
In the case of Spain, Congress has taken a step that can be a turning point: it has approved the beginning of the processing of a law to allow the embargo of arms trade to countries that commit genocides or war crimes, such as Israel. The proposal – resulted by all groups except for the conservative Popular Party and the ultra -rightist Vox – proposes to reform the law of 2007 that regulates the export of defense material to introduce the embargo when the principles of international humanitarian law are serious.
Gerardo Pisarello, a deputy of Add, was blunt during the debate: “It cannot be that the blood stained benefits of a few companies weigh more than the lives of thousands of children.” Against, the right described the initiative as a “legal pastiche” and warned that it could affect the operation of the security forces and ongoing contracts. The vote took place just before the appearance of the Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who must explain in Congress an contract with an Israeli company for the purchase of millions of bullets that the Government ended up annuling by pressure of its summar partner and other parliamentary forces.
Outside the Congress, some 500 people concentrated to demand that embargo on Israel. Among the protesters were deputies of the promoting groups of the initiative: add, Podemos and Esquerra Republicana.
Meanwhile, the military offensive continues its course. According to Reuters, the last Israeli attacks have impacted on homes where at least 18 people died, including children, as well as in a school that housed displaced families. Only in the last nine days, more than 500 people have lost their lives in Gaza.
Humanitarian aid: limited and paralyzed
In full climb of tensions, Israel has accepted an agreement with United Arab Emirates to open a humanitarian corridor with “urgent” help for about 15,000 Gazati civilians in an initial phase. The measure, announced by the Minister Emiratí of Foreign ABDULÁ BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN, includes food, supplies for bakeries, medicines and essential products for child health. According to the state agency WAM, shipments could initially benefit 3 % of the 470,000 Palestinians who, according to the World Food Program, face a “catastrophic famine”.
Israel, meanwhile, has announced that it has allowed the passage of up to 93 trucks through the crossing of Kerem Shalom, loaded with flour, children’s foods, medical equipment and medicines. However, the United Nations has denied that these supplies are reaching their destination. “One of our teams waited for several hours to access the crossing of Kerem Shalom and collect the supplies. Unfortunately, they have not been able to take them to our warehouse,” explained the spokesman for the General Secretariat, Stéphane Dujarric. “To make it clear: although more supplies have arrived in Gaza, we have not been able to ensure their arrival at our stores and delivery points.”
Dujarric explained that trucks must be downloaded on the Palestinian side of the crossing, recharged with local vehicles and then obtain a new authorization from Israeli forces to be collected by UN personnel. He assured that the process is plagued by logistics complications, permits and security risks that greatly hinder any effective distribution. “The conditions make this extremely difficult,” he said.
On Monday, the UN Humanitarian Affairs Head of the UN, Tom Fletcher, acknowledged that Israel had given green light to the entrance of nine trucks with “limited help”, although he stressed that it is “a drop in the ocean” in the midst of the rebound of the offensive. Meanwhile, Hamas has denied that he has entered help and has described the statements of Prime Minister Netanyahu as “false.” The Gazatí government press office, on the other hand, has asked the population to protect the convoys and avoid attacks, appealing to a “moral and collective responsibility.”
On the ground, the consequences of the blockade remain dramatic. According to UNRWA, almost all distribution centers and food stores have been empty for weeks. Hospitals work with minimal resources and the entire Gazatí population, more than two million people, lives in a situation of severe food insecurity.
