Denies EU Diplomat Allegations Of Starvation In Gaza, Israel Blames Hamas For Disrupting Aid Convoys

Israeli Foreign Minister Katz. (Wikimedia Commons/Adi Cohen Zedek/())

JAKARTA - Israel has denied accusations by EU diplomats that it triggered starvation in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, instead blaming the Hamas militant group for disrupting aid convoys.

Israeli Foreign Minister Katz said Israel allowed aid into Gaza, rejecting the claim by EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell that it was deliberately making Gazans starving.

"Israel has allowed large amounts of humanitarian aid to Gaza by land, air and sea for anyone willing to help," wrote Foreign Minister Katz in X, quoted by The Times of Israel March 18.

"Even though Hamas vehemently disrupted aid convoys and UNRWA collaborations with them, we persisted," he continued.

He added that Borrell must "stop attacking Israel and recognize our right to defend ourselves against the crimes of Hamas."

Earlier, Borrell said on Monday, Israel sparked hunger in the Gaza Strip and used hunger as a weapons of war, a charge Israeli foreign ministers have denied.

"In Gaza we are no longer on the verge of starvation, we are in a state of hunger that has an impact on thousands of people," Borrell said at the opening of a humanitarian aid conference for Gaza in Brussels, Belgium.

"This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapons of war. Israel is triggering starvation," Borrell criticized.

It is known, several countries in the world have criticized Israel for rising hunger in the region, including Egypt and Iraq.