The European Union (EU) is preparing to triple the amount of humanitarian aid it provides to the Gaza Strip, backtracking on its decision to suspend all aid and financial support to the area following Hamas’ violent incursion into Israel last weekend.
The European Commission will now send €75 million instead of €25 million to the Hamas-controlled area, with the decision coming soon after a conversation between EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, on Saturday.
Elsewhere, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, is set to convene senior figures within the EU to address the bloc’s constant flip-flopping over the current conflict.
“We stand in full solidarity with the people of Israel and the victims of the terrorist attacks,” Michel stated before adding, “the unfolding tragic scenes in the Gaza Strip resulting from the siege and the lack of basic needs combined with the destruction brought by significant shelling, are raising alarm bells in the international community.”
However, EU financial and humanitarian aid has already been misappropriated by Hamas, with the widely recognized terrorist organization turning $100 million worth of EU-funded water piping into makeshift rockets to fire into Israel.