Eu S Hypocrisy Fuelling Suffering In Gaza

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The hypocrisy and inaction of the European Union (EU) and its member states have allowed Israel to freely continue its massacre of Palestinians in Gaza with total impunity.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calls for impartial needs-based aid to be facilitated into the Gaza Strip at scale, the protection of civilians, and the immediate restoration of a sustained ceasefire; European governments must act decisively to expedite this.
For more than 20 months, Israeli authorities and forces have inflicted a punishing campaign, including large-scale forced displacement and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in Gaza.
On a daily basis, our teams witness patterns consistent with genocide through deliberate actions by Israeli forces, including mass killings, the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and blockades choking off access to food, water, medicines, and other essential humanitarian supplies.
Israel is systematically destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life. Gaza’s homes, hospitals, markets, water networks, roads, and power grids have been demolished, not by disregard but by design.
EU’s inaction
The EU and European governments have the political, economic, and diplomatic means to exert real pressure on Israel to stop this assault and open Gaza’s border crossings to unhindered humanitarian aid.
These are not theoretical instruments. They can be effectively mobilised in defence of international law and to protect civilians.
However, up to this point, the EU and its member states appear to have abdicated their political leadership to do so.
Worse, recent statements European states have made, critical of how the war is being waged, highlight their hypocrisy as they continue to supply the weapons being used to kill, maim, and burn people who end up in our hospitals.
“The war in Gaza is one of the most egregious, deadly and ruthless wars waged on a people of our time,” says Christopher Lockyear, MSF secretary-general.
“It is an orchestrated massacre of the Palestinian people. It is purposeful ethnic cleansing.
“Stopping this requires political courage, legal responsibility, and moral commitment… The scale of suffering in Gaza demands more than empty rhetoric,” said Lockyear.
Aid has been weaponised, used as leverage, conditioned, or blocked entirely.
Weaponised aid
Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation launched its activities on May 27, as part of the US-Israeli scheme to instrumentalise aid, hundreds of Palestinians have been treated in hospitals, and scores have been killed, after being shot at these aid distribution sites while waiting to receive the basic necessities for survival. 
“The imposed system of aid delivery is not only a failure, but it is dehumanising and dangerous.
“It exposes thousands of Palestinians to unnecessary risks, leading to bloodshed that can be avoided if humanitarian organisations are allowed to provide aid impartially and safely, at the necessary scale that is so desperately needed in Gaza,” Lockyear said.
Today, Nasser Hospital, southern Gaza’s main referral hospital for thousands of patients in the area, is barely able to continue working, due to repeated evacuation orders and movement restrictions on staff and patients.
In recent weeks, MSF teams admitted over 500 patients requiring medical care to the hospital, while supporting the hospital’s medical staff to respond to repeated mass casualty influxes from constant bombings and attacks.
“Humanitarian organisations have set up makeshift hospitals to fill the gap, but they can in no way replace regular hospitals.
“The remaining hospitals must be protected, and the entry of aid facilitated. Failure to do so will cost yet more lives,” said Lockyear.
Hypocrisy must stop
MSF, like many organisations, has repeatedly called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, unfettered humanitarian access, and respect for international humanitarian law - including the protection of medical staff and facilities.
Several governments continue to express concerns about the horrific situation in Gaza, but their statements that invoke concern with adherence to international humanitarian laws are shrouded in hypocrisy as they continue to send arms that kill and maim the children we treat.
“What people are experiencing in Gaza is beyond unbearable: it must stop now
“As this military onslaught against a besieged people rages on, the hypocrisy of EU states who speak but don’t act is more obvious by the day,” said Lockyear.
MSF staff and patients in Gaza have been forced to leave at least 18 different health facilities and have endured 50 violent incidents since November 2023, which include airstrikes against hospitals, tank shells being fired at agreed deconflicted shelters, ground offensives into medical centres, and convoys fired upon. Eleven of our colleagues have been killed. - Mkini
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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