US-Israeli plan to sideline UN in Gaza sets up clash within EU

Offer of help to Israel made by the EU's foreign affairs chief has muddled the EU's stance

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

A US-Israeli plan to sideline UN aid distribution in Gaza, where mass starvation looms, and replace it with an operation run by private US contractors is at odds with the neutrality of the European Union, an official has said.

The EU, the world's largest humanitarian donor, which aims to provide €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) in aid this year, avoids channelling funds through governments for fear it might become politicised. There is no intention to change that position, the EU official told The National, and statements of support to the UN are expected to be issued at a humanitarian forum in Brussels on Monday.

"No EU humanitarian aid is provided to governments but only to humanitarian organisations such as UN agencies, NGOs and international organisations," said the official, who did not wish to be identified. "We will continue working with our trusted EU humanitarian partners as we have been doing for decades, defending international humanitarian law, the respect of humanitarian principles and multilateralism."

Such statements have found echo among countries that are becoming increasingly critical of the conduct of Israel's war against Gaza, including France. Last week, two EU commissioners and foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas dismissed the new mechanism. "Using aid as a tool of war is prohibited under international humanitarian law," they said. "The mechanism would shift the responsibility for the distribution of aid to non-humanitarian international actors and private security contractors."

Yet some EU countries have said they support plans to privatise aid distribution. Arguments in its favour include the fact it would allow much-needed aid to enter the enclave quickly. Adopted by the Israeli security cabinet on May 4, the new mechanism reportedly plans to deliver aid only in certain parts of the enclave. The aid would be distributed in the south of the enclave by US contractors protected by the Israeli military.

Last week, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul appeared to endorse the plan during a trip to Israel. But in remarks to Parliament on Thursday, Mr Wadephul stressed the humanitarian situation in Gaza must be improved in a manner fully consistent with the principles of international humanitarian law.

Tom Fletcher, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, recently described the plan to the UN Security Council as “a cynical sideshow, a deliberate distraction" and "a fig leaf for further violence and displacement". It would make "starvation a bargaining chip" and "aid conditional on political and military aim", he added.

Mounting criticism of Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said his country was open to alternatives. "We're troubled by the humanitarian situation there," he said, after warnings of famine in Gaza. "I hear criticism of that plan. We're open to an alternative if someone has a better one. We are for all the aid we can get without Hamas being able to steal it from people."

The Gaza war will continue to drive discussions among EU affairs ministers meeting in Brussels next week. Israel's siege and threats to fully destroy the enclave fuels have increased criticism. The Netherlands has led an initiative to review relations with Israel due to the total aid blockade in place since March 2. The call has garnered the support of a dozen countries, The National understands. The EU Commission, the bloc's executive arm, has yet to respond to the request, which could lead to a suspension, in part or in whole, of the EU-Israel association agreement.

A similar request lodged in February 2024 by Ireland and Spain over the situation in Gaza was ignored. It had been opposed by more pro-Israel EU countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic.

Close to 53,000 Gazans have been killed since Israel's retaliatory war to Hamas-led attacks in which 1,200 died in October 2023.

Preparations for a US aid drop in Gaza organised from Jordan last year

The EU's persistent inability to take a collective stance on the war despite increasingly critical statements from a number of countries reflects the bloc's lack of capacity to deliver concrete action that may pressure Israel, said Kelly Petillo, programme manager for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "It begs the question of what the EU is prepared to do about it besides expressing concern," Ms Petillo said.

On May 7, Ms Kallas muddled the EU's messaging even further, saying she had offered the bloc's help to Israel "to distribute humanitarian aid if they don't trust the actors there [in Gaza]". The nature of that offer remains unclear but it triggered sharp criticism from Irish MEP Lynn Boylan, who said Ms Kallas had no mandate to make such a proposition. Contacted by The National, a representative for Ms Kallas declined to clarify and said: "Our priority is to get the aid to flow to save people’s lives."