The EU agrees with Israel on the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza and eases pressure to sanction Netanyahu.

Barcelona/StrasbourgEuropean Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas announced Thursday that the European Union has reached an agreement with Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. agreed measures," she said in a statement. The announcement comes ahead of next Tuesday's EU Foreign Affairs Council, where future sanctions against Benjamin Netanyahu's government are expected to be discussed. The pact on humanitarian aid further reduces the chances of member states opting to impose restrictions on Tel Aviv. humanitarian aid from Jordan and Egypt, which should allow for the distribution of food from bread ovens and community kitchens throughout the Gaza Strip and also the resumption of fuel deliveries to keep humanitarian facilities running. "These measures will be implemented in the coming days, with the shared idea that the necessary aid must be delivered directly to the population, and steps will continue to be taken to ensure that Hamas does not divert aid," the EU foreign policy chief said, a comment that supports the Israeli accusation that the Palestinian militia. European diplomacy's chief has once again called for "an immediate ceasefire" and "the release of all hostages," and has supported the "efforts" of Egypt, Qatar and the United States in their role as "mediators."

Neither the content nor the volume of the aid, let alone how it will be distributed, is clear in the context of the Controversy over the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution points, the mechanism devised by the United States and Israel to bypass the UN system and international and local humanitarian organizations. These distribution sites are already known in Gaza as "killing points," because Israeli troops have murdered people in their vicinity. At least 771 Palestinians were killed when they were collecting aid and more than 5,000 were injured., according to authorities in the Strip.

An Israeli drone attacked a group of Palestinians this morning as they queued to collect aid at a medical center distributing nutritional supplements to children suffering from malnutrition due to the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza. The attack occurred in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Strip, and, according to Hamas, the death toll is 15, including ten children and three women. In total, in the last 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 82 Palestinians and injured 247 in Gaza, according to medical sources. In another attack in the city of Khan Younis, in the south of the Strip, several children were killed.

Civil Protection teams have also announced that they have run out of vehicles to rescue the wounded from the rubble of bombed buildings throughout the center and north of the Strip. Ambulances, vans, and fire trucks are destroyed or damaged, and the organization is unable to repair them due to the Israeli blockade, which prevents the entry of spare parts. They are calling for urgent international intervention and recalling that Israel is intensifying its attacks and accelerating the displacement of the population toward the south of the Strip, where construction has already begun on a large camp to confine the Palestinians.

The agreement that removes sanctions

Brussels announced the agreement with Tel Aviv less than a week before the deadline to discuss whether to apply sanctions against Netanyahu's government once and for all. Pressure to take restrictive measures was growing, especially after the EU decided at the last Foreign Affairs Council to give Israel another chance despite the more than 55,000 deaths in Palestine and the publication of a European Commission report that noted "indications" that the Israeli government was violating international and human rights law. However, the pact acts as a decompression device and removes the slim chances that the EU would end up, for example, breaking the association agreement with Israel or blacklisting senior Israeli leaders.

In fact, the review of the EU's association agreement with Israel, requested by 17 member states, was not intended to end with sanctions against Netanyahu's government. Diplomatic sources from several European partners suggested that it was merely a diplomatic gesture to put pressure on Tel Aviv to allow entry of humanitarian aid, largely funded by the European bloc itself. Thus, despite the fact that the EU has no guarantees that Netanyahu will keep his word, Israel has managed to avoid sanctions, at least for a time, as the most pro-Zionist member states, such as Germany, also wanted.

However, Brussels will present a document to the member states, to which the ARA has had access, which foresees ten possible sanctions against the Netanyahu government if it continues to violate humanitarian and international law and does not allow entry of humanitarian aid. The restrictions range from a suspension of the association agreement with Israel to more minor issues such as the expulsion of Israel from the Erasmus student exchange program.

US against the UN rapporteur

Meanwhile, the United States government has imposed sanctions against the UN special rapporteur on Gaza and the West Bank, Francesca Albanese, for her outspoken criticism of the Israeli government for the "genocide" it is perpetrating in the Strip. The Donald Trump administration has repeatedly maneuvered to have the UN remove Albanese, but has been unsuccessful, and on Wednesday night announced sanctions against her, including a ban on her entry into the United States and a freeze on any assets she may have in the country.

The Italian-born international law expert has supported the case brought against the Netanyahu government by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accuses Israel of war crimes. Some of the judges on this international court are also sanctioned by the United States. Albanese has always been highly critical of Israel's actions in Gaza and in recent weeks has issued a series of letters urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombardment of the Strip.

"Today more than ever: I stand firm and convinced by the side of justice, as I always have. I come from a country with a tradition of illustrious jurists, talented lawyers and brave judges who have defended justice at great cost and often with their own lives. I intend to be right, and I am proud of it," Albanese said on her X account, without explicitly mentioning the sanctions against her.

Hours earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also posted on social media: "Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always support our partners in their right to self-defense."