From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 10, 2025
EU foreign policy chief confirms deal with Israel to increase aid to Gaza in coming days
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Israel and the European Union have agreed upon “significant steps” to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip “in the coming days,” announces EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, confirming an earlier report from Bloomberg.
“Following the Israeli Cabinet’s resolutions and the constructive dialogue between the EU and Israel, significant steps have been agreed by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” Kallas says in a statement.
“These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,” Kallas continues.
According to the top European diplomat, the agreement will see a “substantial increase” in the daily entry of trucks supplying food and non-food items; the opening of several crossing points in northern and southern Gaza; the reopening of humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan; resumed operations of bakeries and public kitchens in Gaza; resumed fuel deliveries to humanitarian facilities “up to an operational level”; security for aid workers; and reparations on works for “vital infrastructure like the resumption of the power supply to the water desalination facility.”
“The EU stands ready to coordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, United Nations agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps,” adds Kallas, adding that the EU “calls again for an immediate ceasefire” and release of all hostages.
The statement follows several remarks by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in recent weeks that Israel is working with European Union counterparts to improve the system for distributing aid.
Since late May, Israel has handed authority over aid distribution in Gaza to the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in a stated effort to prevent aid supplies from reaching Hamas. The GHF’s operations have been strongly criticized by the international community for failing to address the humanitarian needs in Gaza. It is unclear under which bodies the expanded aid measures will be operated.
Israel has not yet commented on the new initiative.
The Times of Israel Community.