Kaja Kallas, European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said on Thursday that Israel agreed to “significant steps” to improve aid distribution in the Gaza Strip.
“Following the Israeli Cabinet’s resolutions and the constructive dialogue between the EU and Israel, significant steps have been agreed by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” Kallas said in a statement.
Measures agreed upon include increasing the number of daily trucks entering Gaza, opening additional crossings into the north and south of the Strip, reopening the Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes, resuming fuel deliveries to aid facilities and repairing vital infrastructure, among others.
Aid will be delivered directly to the Gazan population while ensuring it isn’t diverted to the terror group Hamas, Kallas said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, in Vienna for meetings with Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, addressed the discussions with the European Union over the aid issue on Thursday.
“Following our dialogue with the EU, our Security Cabinet made further decisions last Sunday to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” he said. “And they include more trucks, more crossings and more routes for the humanitarian efforts.”
Speaking at a Trilateral Press Conference with the two foreign ministers, Sa’ar said, “Today’s trilateral meeting between Israel, Germany and Austria is not a one-time thing. It is the beginning of a trilateral dialogue between our three nations. A strategic partnership.”
On June 23, the EU Foreign Affairs Council, composed of foreign ministers of the 27 EU member states, discussed the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides the framework for political and economic cooperation between the European Union and Israel, and whether it should be suspended due to alleged Israel non-compliance with the agreement’s human rights clause.
The Foreign Ministers decided to postpone until this month any decision on measures against Israel.
Kallas said after that meeting that she would “address the results” with Sa’ar.
“Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground [in Gaza] and help the humanitarian aid get in and help the people. So, today was the beginning of the debate and not the end,” Kallas told reporters after the ministerial meeting.
She stressed that the European Union’s priorities “are clear: return to full ceasefire, full humanitarian access and the release of all hostages.”
Israel and the United States have installed a new organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to handle food aid delivery so that it directly reaches Gazan civilians and bypasses Hamas.
As of July 7, the GHF has delivered more than 66 million meals.
