Belgium and ten other countries urge Israel to allow aid into Gaza

Belgium and ten other countries on Wednesday called on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza without obstruction, warning that conditions there remain “disastrous”.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom said that, despite some increase in deliveries, supplies were still far below what the population needs.

They recalled that Israel had agreed to a plan linked to US president Donald Trump that included letting United Nations and Red Crescent-co-ordinated aid enter and be distributed in Gaza without interference.

The ministers urged Israel to take further steps, including allowing international NGOs to operate, easing registration rules, and reopening all border crossings. They also called for the reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions.

The statement also condemned Israel’s demolition of the East Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on 20 January 2026. The ministers described it as an unprecedented act by a UN member state against a UN body and urged Israel to halt all such actions.

^{Trucks transporting humanitarian aid wait to enter through the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip © AFP}