The EU will unblock “At the beginning of next week” 50 million euros in aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the European Commission announced on Friday March 1, before the subsequent release of an additional 32 million. At the end of January, the European Union called for an audit of the functioning of UNRWA, after accusations of the possible involvement of some of its employees in the October 7 attack in Israel. Follow our live stream.
France calls for an investigation. “It will take an independent investigation to determine what happened”, declared the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, on France Inter, after the death announced by Hamas of 112 dead and 760 injured during a distribution of food aid in Gaza. If the circumstances must be clarified, the Israeli army admitted to having opened fire.
The international community is outraged. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, denounced on A “new carnage” and deaths “totally unacceptable”while the United States demanded from Israel “some answers”. China, Italy, Spain, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also condemned these events. The UN Security Council met urgently behind closed doors and the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres said “shocked” and pleaded for “an effective independent investigation”.
The hope of a truce is diminishing. There will be no “probably” no truce between now and Monday, said Joe Biden, after saying at the start of the week that he hoped for a ceasefire by March 4. Asked whether he believed that the killings during the food distribution would have an impact on negotiations for a ceasefire, the American president replied: “I know it will.”
A call to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza. More than 30 international media outlets, including the world’s leading news agencies, on Thursday expressed solidarity with Palestinian journalists working in extreme difficulties in Gaza, and called on Israeli authorities to “protect them”.