German FM from 'Tel Aviv' calls humanitarian situation in Gaza 'hell'
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Annalena Baerbock describes the situation in Gaza as horrific, with residents trying to satisfy their most basic daily needs to survive.
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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in the Philippines on January 11, 2024. (AP)
International organizations must be permitted to transport help to Gaza without interference, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.
Baerbock expressed that the situation in Gaza was horrific, with residents trying to satisfy their most basic daily needs to survive.
During a trip to "Israel" meeting officials, Baerbock called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "hell" and called for "unhindered" delivery of vital aid while she was in "Tel Aviv".
Aid groups estimate only about a fifth of the supplies needed are entering Gaza as "Israel" continues its air and ground onslaught, which has so far killed over 32,000 Palestinians and injured over 74,694.
The Foreign Minister said that Germany has boosted its financing to the World Food Programme by 10 million euros ($10.8 million).
Baerbock made no mention of the defunding of UNRWA after false Israeli allegations led numerous nations to cut off funding for the critical aid agency.
Germany was among the countries that stopped regular support for UNRWA after "Israel" made unsubstantiated claims that some of the agency's members were involved in supporting the Palestinian Resistance, Hamas.
This comes as the German government announced a $48.7 million fund for UNRWA offices in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank of occupied Palestine, excluding Gaza.
According to a joint statement by the Federal Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation, and Economic Cooperation, these funds will be provided for the above-mentioned offices, specifically, to be able to continue their work in the region. This explicitly shows an exclusion of funds for UNRWA in the Gaza Strip.
Gemeinsam mit @AuswaertigesAmt stellen wir 45 Mio Euro für @UNRWA in Jordanien, Libanon, Syrien und im Westjordanland zur Verfügung. Damit unterstützen wir Gesundheits- und Bildungsleistungen sowie "Cash for Work"-Programme für Palästina-Flüchtlinge.
— Bundesentwicklungsministerium (@BMZ_Bund) March 25, 2024
Zur gemeinsamen Erklärung 👇
Hamas, UN demand aid via land crossings after 12 Palestinians drowned
Twelve Palestinians have drowned while attempting to collect aid dropped by plane off a Gaza beach, Palestinian health officials reported on Tuesday, amid rising worries of starvation almost six months into the Israeli war on Gaza.
Reuters received footage of the airdrop, which showed crowds rushing toward the beach in Beit Lahia, north Gaza, while boxes with parachutes floated down, followed by people knee-deep in water and bodies being hauled onto the sand.
Following the tragedy, Hamas, in a statement, called for "an immediate end to airdrop operations" and "the immediate and rapid opening of land crossings to allow humanitarian aid to reach our Palestinian people."
UNICEF said vastly more aid must be rushed into Gaza by road, rather than air or sea, to avert "this imminent famine."
Food aid is usually only airdropped in crises where "people are cut off for hundreds of kilometers," said UNICEF spokesman James Elder, speaking via video link from Gaza.
But "the lifesaving aid they need is a matter of kilometers away", he said, as trucks loaded with aid have been waiting across Gaza's southern border with Egypt.
"We need to use the road networks."
This is the most recent in a series of instances, apart from deliberate Israeli shooting, involving deaths while Gazans attempt to reach aid in the tiny, cramped area where some residents forage for plants and bake barely edible bread from animal feed to survive.
Footage showed the corpse of a bearded young man being dragged onto the beach, his eyes open but still, and another man attempting to resuscitate him with chest compressions while someone muttered, "It's over."
