Aid trucks pass through the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing into Gaza on January 19, the day a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began. Photo / Loay Ayyoub, the Washington Post
The European Union and Israel have agreed on a deal to allow more food, fuel and other vital aid into the starvation-gripped Gaza Strip, with an EU presence at border crossings, European and Israeli officials said .
“Today, we reached an agreement with Israel to expand humanitarian access to Gaza,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.
“This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel’s security Cabinet voted on Sunday (Monday NZT) “to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza”.
It was not immediately clear when the agreement would go into effect.
Kallas said that “measures are or will be implemented in the coming days”. But details still need to be worked out, according to an official familiar with the EU talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The deal requires the approval of EU foreign ministers, who are scheduled to meet on Tuesday. Once there’s an official green light, the operation would take several days to set up.
Israel and Hamas are inching toward another possible ceasefire to end 21 months of fighting that began after the attacks on Israel by Hamas-led militants on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1200 people.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and destroyed most of the enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week to meet United States President Donald Trump, who has said he is optimistic a deal can be reached. Multiple previous attempts have failed.
The aid agreement boded well for the prospects of a ceasefire, the official familiar with the EU talks said, because Israel would not entertain the deal otherwise. But the increase in aid does not depend on a ceasefire, he said.
Under terms announced today, Israel would open more crossing points, reopen aid routes from Jordan and Egypt, and allow more trucks to enter, Kallas said.
The agreement also makes possible the distribution of more food through Gaza’s network of bakeries and community kitchens, the resumption of fuel deliveries for humanitarian operations, the repair of power supplies for critical infrastructure such as water desalination, and more protection for humanitarian workers.
The EU Border Assistance Mission, a monitoring body, is to be stationed at border crossings with representatives of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ West Bank-based rival, the official said. The crossings are to include Kerem Shalom, the main entry point for goods. The mission has not previously worked there.
Saar told reporters in Vienna that the agreement followed “a fruitful dialogue” with the EU Neither Israeli nor Egyptian officials responded to requests for comment.
Aid surged into Gaza during a ceasefire that began in mid-January and lasted for two months. But when Israel cut off aid in March, supplies quickly ran dry.
In May, Israel began letting in some food and other supplies. But it has not allowed fuel since March, according to the United Nations, which warned this week that fuel stocks had almost run dry, putting the entire humanitarian response at risk of imminent shutdown.
Israel says it limits what enters Gaza because Hamas siphons off goods, a claim the United Nations and aid agencies reject.
The Washington Post has asked officials in the IDF, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the prime minister’s office to show evidence of systematic theft from the UN and international organisations. They have not.
An EU spokeswoman said this week that the bloc had no reports of Hamas stealing aid.
“Obviously, we don’t hide that the situation in Gaza is catastrophic and very, very complex,” spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova told reporters.
“Nevertheless, we have a system that is in place. We have an infrastructure how to deliver aid in Gaza, and this is a system that should immediately be used to help people in Gaza who are starving.”
In an internal review last month, the EU’s diplomatic service concluded that Israel, in its conduct of the war, has violated its human rights obligations to the bloc. Kallas was due next week to present European foreign ministers with options for punitive measures.
The options to be discussed in Brussels next week included suspending all trade ties with Israel, which would require a unanimity that would be unlikely in the 27-nation bloc, imposing sanctions on Israeli ministers or settlers, and scaling back some trade.
The aid deal throws that debate into question and is likely to delay any EU decisions on punitive action. Officials said decisions would also depend on whether Israel follows through on aid and whether a ceasefire is reached.
While the US is by far Israel’s biggest military ally, the EU is Israel’s largest trading partner.
That gives the block substantial leverage, but members have been divided over whether and how to use it.
The EU, under pressure from public opinion and from member states seeking to distance themselves from Israel’s war as international organisations warned of famine, launched its review of trade ties with Israel in May.
In the review, which hasn’t been made public, the bloc scrutinised whether alleged violations of human rights law, including Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the mounting civilian death toll, put it in breach of its association agreement with the EU.
Israel has severely curtailed UN efforts to deliver aid. As an alternative, it has promoted the Trump Administration-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs distribution sites patrolled by security contractors in areas of the enclave under Israeli control.
Israeli forces have on several occasions opened fire near the sites, and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
The EU plan is for aid to be delivered in co-operation with the UN and other agencies, not through the foundation, according to a European official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.