Israel Rejects E3 Statement on Aid to Gaza

The UK, France, and Germany — known collectively as the E3 nations — have issued a statement, condemning Israel for blockading humanitarian aid and demanding that Israel restart that aid immediately. Israel’s foreign ministry responded at once, caling the E3 statement “ethically outrageous.” More on this latest dustup can be found here: “Israel rejects ‘ethically outrageous’ E3 statement demanding restart of Gaza aid,” by Nava Freiberg, Times of Israel, April 23, 2025:

The Foreign Ministry responds to today’s joint statement by the United Kingdom, France, and Germany condemning Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, in a press release shared by the ministry’s spokesman.

“Israel is fighting Hamas, which steals humanitarian aid, uses it to rebuild its war machine, and hides behind civilians,” says the Foreign Ministry, adding that it “categorically reject[s] the claim of ‘politicization of humanitarian aid’ as stated in the E3’s statement.”

In the statement, the three nations’ foreign ministers called for the immediate resumption of aid deliveries to the Strip and criticized recent comments on the issue by Defense Minister Israel Katz. They also called for Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza, for Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, and for all parties to return to a ceasefire.

When the Israelis began their blockade of aid in early March, it was estimated that there were three months’ worth of food and medicines in Gaza. That means there is still another six weeks to go before those supplies actually run out. This hasn’t prevented Hamas from telling the world how much people in Gaza are suffering — the very people whom Hamas has been robbing blind, by stealing so much of the aid that previously was sent into Gaza, both for distribution to its own members, and for resale, at exorbitant prices, to the very people for whom that aid was intended to be distributed for free. In fact, before the war began, Hamas was simply stealing so much of the aid provided to Gaza by foreign donors, that just four of Hamas’ most senior leaders — Mousa Abu Marzouk, the late Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and the late Yahya Sinwar — between them managed to amass the colossal sum of $14 billion.

“Article 70 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions requires aid when ‘the civilian population is not adequately supplied,’” continues the statement from the Foreign Ministry, adding, “During the 42-day ceasefire, 25,000 aid trucks entered Gaza. Israel is monitoring the situation on the ground, and there is no shortage of aid in Gaza.”

In other words, during the 42 days of the ceasefire, from January 11 to March 18, enormous numbers of aid trucks entered Gaza, giving it enough supplies to weather the current blockade. There is not now any famine in Gaza. There is not now any shortage of medicines in Gaza. In another six weeks, but not before, there will start to be shortages. The IDF is no doubt hoping that before then Hamas will have cracked, agreed to free the remaining hostages in exchange for the blockade being lifted. That blockade, remember, could end tomorrow if Hamas were simply to release the hostages. That it will not do. Perhaps in six weeks of intense pressure, both from the angry protests of ordinary Gazans, and from the IDF’s renewed strikes in Gaza, Hamas will finally yield. That is what the E3 countries should understand.

According to Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, a side is not obliged to allow in aid if it is ‘likely to assist the military or economic efforts of the enemy.’ Hamas hijacked the humanitarian aid to rebuild its terror machine,” further states the ministry.

Any aid that is sent into Gaza now will, of course, “assist the military or economic efforts of the enemy.” It will give Hamas more money, from the resale of such aid at exorbitant prices, with which to pay both its current soldiers and the new recruits Hamas brags about having enrolled in its ranks. Right now, Hamas is paying its soldiers about half what they previously received; this has led some, including those recent recruits, to no longer show up for duty. The Israelis know perfectly well that much of that aid will be seized by Hamas and resold by it to Gazans, thus contributing to the terror group’s finances at a time when it is desperate for more money to pay its operatives, and pay as well for weapons that may still be smuggled into Gaza from Egypt.

Instead of mentioning that “Hamas is the one targeting Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians,” the three countries “chose to accuse Israel of strikes on humanitarian personnel and healthcare facilities — this is morally twisted and wrong,” according to the press release….

The “strike on humanitarian personnel” is a reference to the deaths of the 14 medics from IDF fire. The IDF appointed a committee to investigate what it concluded was “a tragic mistake” — for which two officers were punished with demotions — but not a crime. Nor does the E3’s charge that Israel attacks “healthcare facilities” hold up. Israel will attack certain parts of hospitals and hospital complexes where it knows that Hamas has command-and-control centers, or has been hiding both weapons and combatants inside the hospital. It does not attack medical personnel, nor patients, nor the places in the hospitals where there is no sign of Hamas’ presence. That presence can be very large. Consider, for example, Al-Shifa Hospital, where during and after the siege of the hospital in March 2024, the IDF killed 200 Hamas fighters, and another 500 Hamas combatants who had been hiding in the hospital surrendered. No medical personnel, and no patients, were harmed in this spectacularly successful operation.

The IDF has just concluded, and made public, its meticulously-detailed report on what it calls the “tragic mistake” of the killing of 14 medics in Gaza, and has demoted one officer, and discharged another, who were  involved. Did the E3 officials read that report? If not, why not? And if they did read it, how can they possibly berate Israel for being insufficiently attentive to civilian casualties?

The E3 officials need to be much more careful, and think clearly, before berating Israel in so public, and damaging, a manner. They need to do their homework on international law, as it pertains to blockades, and when they are justified. They should focus on Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, that lays out the law: “A side is not obliged to allow in aid if it is ‘likely to assist the military or economic efforts of the enemy.” Nothing more need be added.