Sweden to summon Israeli envoy over Gaza aid crisis
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The Swedish Prime Minister has called for EU sanctions against "Israel" over its blockade of Gaza and insufficient humanitarian aid.
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Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson arrives for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025 (AP)
Sweden's Foreign Ministry plans to call in "Israel's" ambassador in Stockholm to express its disapproval over the insufficient delivery of humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated on Monday.
Facing increasing international pressure, Israeli authorities recently permitted a limited flow of aid into the Palestinian enclave, though the few hundred trucks that entered delivered only a small portion of the necessary food supplies for the 2 million people at risk of famine after nearly three months of blockade.
EU should consider sanctions against 'Israel': Swedish PM
Kristersson stated to Swedish news agency TT that the European Union should consider implementing sanctions and applying diplomatic pressure on "Israel" to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
"We have been incredibly clear about that, ourselves and together with many other European countries," Kristersson said, adding that "that pressure is now increasing, no doubt, and for very good reasons."
Since "Israel" blocked aid from entering the Gaza Strip on March 2, the humanitarian situation quickly deteriorated to abysmal levels, putting the lives of Gaza residents at risk as they face famine and a lack of proper medical care.
Gaza starves as 'Israel' escalates its genocide
The Gaza Government Media Office released a statement last week declaring that the severe Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid has killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza and caused a significant increase in miscarriages.
"The Israeli occupation's starvation policy in Gaza has led to the deaths of 326 people due to malnutrition and lack of food and medicine, along with over 300 miscarriages among pregnant women in just 80 days," the Media Office stated.
In the past week, Israeli military operations have struck no fewer than ten hospitals and medical centers across the Gaza Strip, forcing these facilities to either completely cease operations or significantly reduce their services, thereby overwhelming the capacity of the remaining functional healthcare institutions, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
"These strikes severely increased pressure on Gaza's collapsing health system," the report stated, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health, which highlighted that 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza have no access to proper medical care.
Spain calls for sanctions against 'Israel'
The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza has prompted action from other European countries in support of Gaza, aiming to increase pressure on the occupation to end the war and allow humanitarian aid into the Strip.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares echoed the Swedish PM's call for international sanctions against "Israel" to help end the war on Gaza on May 25, urging action ahead of a high-level Madrid summit where European and Arab nations critical of Israeli actions will gather.
“We must do everything, consider everything, to stop this war,” Albares stated.
Albares stressed the critical necessity for large-scale, unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza, stating that aid deliveries must be neutral and unrestricted rather than subject to Israeli control over who receives sustenance. Additionally, Albares declared that the war had lost any remaining justification for continuation
