BRUSSELS (AFP) — The European Commission on Sunday called on Israel to respect international law and allow access to people "suffering and dying" in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
The commission, the European Union's executive arm, announced an extra three million euros (4.2 million dollars) of emergency aid in the Gaza Strip, and urged Israel to allow a "humanitarian space" for delivery of vital relief.
"One and a half million people are crammed into an area that is just over one percent the size of Belgium. They rely on supplies from outside for their survival and, with every day that passes, their situation becomes more desperate, EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said in a statement.
The obligation to respect the principals of international humanitarian law "is universal and attacks from either side that kill or injure civilians indiscriminately are unacceptable," he added.
Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza and clashed in fierce battles with Hamas fighters on Sunday as Israel raised the stakes in its deadly offensive on the Islamists' overcrowded stronghold.
"Blocking access to people who are suffering and dying is also a breach of humanitarian law. I call on the Israeli authorities to respect their international obligations and ensure a 'humanitarian space' for the delivery of vital relief," said Michel.
The new EU aid will be deployed "as rapidly as possible" to meet the basic needs of people affected by the Israeli airstrikes and by continuing access restrictions.
The European Union is the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians.
The latest three million euros will be focused on food, emergency shelter repairs and further medical support, all areas identified as priorities by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in their flash appeal of December 31.
European foreign ministers were to fly to Egypt Sunday at the start of a Middle East trip where they hope to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to move towards a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, officials said.
On Monday the EU delegation will hold separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and the West Bank before finishing their trip in Jordan.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose nation took over the EU presidency on New Year's Day, will head the mission along with his French and Swedish counterparts plus EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Late Saturday Schwarzenberg stressed that Israel does not have the right to take military actions "which largely affect civilians," though its launching of land operations in the Gaza Strip was no surprise.
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