Israel military official claims ‘no humanitarian crisis in Gaza’ as France’s Macron calls for a ‘ceasefire’
- Colonel Moshe Tetro claimed ‘there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip’, and that the Israeli military was easing aid transfer to Gaza
- Remarks came as Emmanuel Macron held a summit on aid to Gaza and called for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the Palestinian territory moving ‘towards a ceasefire’
An Israeli military official on Thursday denied there is a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, even as he acknowledged the Palestinian territory faces several challenges amid the ongoing war.
“We know the civil situation in the Gaza Strip is not an easy one,” said Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of coordination and liaison at COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body handling civil affairs in Gaza.
“But I can say that there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.
Tetro said the Israeli military was easing aid transfer to Gaza in sectors such as “water, food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid for shelters”.
Tetro’s remarks came as French President Emmanuel Macron opened a conference on aid to Gaza in Paris on Thursday.
Macron called for a swift “humanitarian pause” in the Palestinian territory and urged the international community to work “towards a ceasefire”.
“In the immediate term, we need to work on protecting civilians. To do that, we need a humanitarian pause very quickly and we must work towards a ceasefire,” Macron told delegates in Paris.
