EU commissioner urges expanded Rafah access to boost Gaza aid

ISTANBUL

Humanitarian aid is entering Gaza only "drop by drop," European Commissioner for Equality and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said Monday, calling for expanded access through the Rafah crossing, fewer restrictions on dual-use goods and greater access for NGOs operating on the ground.

“The crossing point is open, but not enough,” Lahbib said at the doorstep of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, warning that “there are still strikes every day” and that “citizens are killed and injured every day because of the strikes.”

She stressed that “the first phase is not fully implemented, so we still need to work on this first phase before talking about the second.”

Highlighting risks to humanitarian staff, she said: “So far, 600 humanitarian workers have been killed,” adding that aid operations cannot effectively alleviate suffering without “unhindered humanitarian access.”

Lahbib also addressed the war in Ukraine ahead of its fourth anniversary, describing what she witnessed during a recent visit.

“I witnessed firsthand the situation over there, the war of terror that Russia is waging against Ukraine,” she said, recalling that she had to shelter underground during air raid alerts and visited hospitals where surgeons were working “with very limited means.”

“It’s very important to stay committed, and the EU is committed,” she said, noting that the bloc has evacuated “5,000 patients, wounded, severely wounded patients” and delivered “11,000 generators to keep the infrastructure running.”

She added that the EU has allocated “1.8 billion euros through our Ukraine Energy Support Facility and 1 billion on emergency gas.”

The commissioner also reported on her recent diplomatic mission to Africa’s Great Lakes region, where she met leaders and armed actors to press for humanitarian access.

“All of them agreed on the need to respect international humanitarian law,” she said, adding that they “committed to work on the accessibility of humanitarian aid.”