From the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, there have been international calls this Friday to investigate one of the most serious episodes in the almost five months of war in Gaza.
It is about the death the day before of more than 100 people in the capital, Gaza City: partly by shots fired by Israeli soldiers who opened fire, partly crushed by the convoy with humanitarian aid that they were pursuing to alleviate the hunger generated by the invasion, according to the first hypotheses of an episode not yet clarified in which the versions diverge.
Guterres has declared himself “horrified” by the massacre and has emphasized the “despair” of Gazan civilians, particularly in the north of the Strip — where the convoy was attacked — because humanitarian aid is barely arriving and hundreds of thousands of residents They have the highest rates of malnutrition.
The UN Secretary General, highly criticized in Israel for emphasizing that the Hamas attack on October 7 “does not come from nowhere,” has reiterated his call for “a humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.” ”, in reference to the 134 that the militias still hold in Gaza.
Thursday's deaths have, in fact, slowed down the negotiations to exchange them for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a temporary truce, as admitted by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who has added that his country will launch humanitarian aid from the air to alleviate the food shortage suffered by the population of the Strip.
Not only the most critical voices have joined the request for an investigation, but also others closer to Israel, such as its main ally, the United States, or Germany, which supplies weapons to the country and will support it in refuting the accusation of genocide presented by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
“Citizens wanted to get humanitarian supplies for themselves and their families and were met with death.
The information from Gaza shocks me.
The Israeli army must fully explain how mass panic and shootings could have occurred,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on the social network X.
The word “independent,” which Israel usually rejects, does not appear in the text.
She considers that term inappropriate because, as she argues, she already internally investigates all incidents, and usually defines her army as “the most moral in the world.”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also declared herself this Friday “deeply shocked” by the massacre and has asked on social networks that “every effort” possible be made to “investigate what happened” and “guarantee transparency” of said investigations.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has demanded an “immediate independent investigation” and that “those responsible be held accountable” for their actions.
Both have also indirectly urged Israel to comply with international law: “We stand with the civilians, we urge their protection in accordance with international law,” said Von der Leyen, who at the beginning of the conflict was accused of having a stance that was too pro-Israeli. (which he has clarified in the subsequent months).
Michel has declared himself “shocked and disgusted by the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza while they desperately waited for humanitarian aid” and has warned that “international law does not allow double standards.”
“These deaths are totally unacceptable,” said the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, hours before.
In another message on
France has taken the harshest tone.
Its president, Emmanuel Macron, has demanded “truth and justice” about the role of the Israeli military in the incident.
“Deep indignation at images from Gaza in which civilians have been attacked by Israeli soldiers.
"I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and I call for truth, justice and respect for international law," he said on the X network. The Israeli army admits that it opened fire on unarmed civilians, but maintains that it only did so against less than a dozen because their soldiers felt “threatened.”
The vast majority, he maintains, were crushed to death by overturned vehicles or other people.
URNWA Funds
The condemnations occur on the same day that Brussels has announced that next week it will disburse 50 of the 82 million euros planned for this year for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA, in its acronym in English).
The rest, he specified in a statement, will be released in two parts as the international organization implements the agreements closed with the EU to clarify Israel's accusations that 12 of its employees participated in the October 7 attack, which They caused UNRWA to lose a substantial part of its budget.
It is mainly provided by countries on a voluntary basis.
“The Commission has assessed its decision to fund UNRWA in light of the very serious allegations made on 24 January, implicating several members of URNWA staff in the atrocious attack on 7 October,” the European Executive explained. in a statement, in which he also specified that this decision “has taken into account the measures taken by the UN and the commitments that the Commission required from UNRWA”, which has been in Israel's sights for years.
While the funding cut-off announcements continued (from the United States, Germany and Japan, among others), the European Commission announced on January 29 that, before releasing a new batch of money to the UN agency, it hoped that accept, among others, that independent experts appointed by the EU carry out an audit.
He also asked that he strengthen his internal investigation department.
For Brussels, UNRWA and the UN are taking enough clarifying steps to disburse this first batch of funds that the humanitarian organization so urgently requires.
During a visit to Brussels in February, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the European payment was “absolutely critical”.
The EU is one of the largest donors of humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
In fact, this Friday he announced that, in addition to the allocation for UNRWA from the budget, he will allocate an additional 68 million euros to support aid to Palestinians carried out by organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Likewise, he indicated that this Friday the first 16 million of the total amount of 125 million set for humanitarian aid to Palestinians this 2024 would be committed in contracts to send food, medicine and other products to the Strip, as well as to provide aid. in education and psychosocial support to Gazan civilians.
In this way, the total EU aid planned for 2024 will amount to 275 million euros, a community spokesperson specified.
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