News item | 27-10-2023 | 14:19
The Netherlands is releasing another 15 million euros for humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza. Minister Liesje Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation announced this on Friday. The money is intended for food, water and medical care for the population, and goes to the Red Cross, the World Food Program and a number of Dutch aid organizations. ‘The needs are extremely high. There is a need for medicine, water and food. That’s what this money is intended for.’
In practice, it turns out to be an enormous task to get the aid to its destination. ‘That really needs to be done much more and much faster. As a government, we insist on this in all international contacts. There must be a humanitarian pause so that aid can enter Gaza,” the minister said.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating every day. The government therefore previously pledged 10 million euros for the affected area. Nearly 1.3 million people are in urgent need of water, medicine and food.
The United Nations previously estimated that $294 million is needed to respond to the urgent needs of the population in Gaza and the region. The two Dutch contributions are in addition to the 51 million euros that the Netherlands has allocated for development cooperation and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians this year.