Despite rapidly growing needs in Gaza and elsewhere, the European Union (EU) on Monday, the 18th of March, pledged to spend an initial 7.7 billion euros on humanitarian aid in 2024, less than the 8.4 billion euros it pledged last year, reports Reuters.
“I think it’s a solid amount… but it could be better,” Janez Lenarcic, the EU’s humanitarian aid and crisis management chief, said at the opening of a two-day humanitarian conference in Brussels.
The UN says a record 300 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance,
mainly because of conflict and climate change. It estimates a global funding shortage of nearly 50 billion US dollars.
“There are more people in need of emergency aid than ever before,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was quoted as saying, adding that the situation in Gaza is particularly grave.
The two-day conference will focus on increasing aid to Gaza, which has been practically inaccessible since the start of the Israeli-Hamas conflict five months ago. On Monday in Brussels, EU foreign ministers will also discuss how to deliver more aid to Gaza.
Meanwhile, a UN-backed report warned of an approaching famine in the northern Gaza Strip due to the impact of more than five months of war, predicting it could occur between mid-March and May 2024 and saying it is “imminent”.
“Gaza is no longer on the brink of famine, but in a state of famine,” Borrell said, adding that Israel was using famine as a weapon of war.
Israel denies that it is obstructing the delivery of aid to Gaza. It has accused aid agencies of failing and has accused Hamas of stealing aid, with Hamas denying this and claiming that Israel is using famine as a weapon in a military offensive.
Also read: First aid ship leaves Cyprus for Gaza
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