This Thursday, a shipment of humanitarian aid from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), consisting of 12 tonnes of food to alleviate the "induced famine" in Gaza due to the humanitarian blockade imposed by Israel, will leave from the Zaragoza Air Base, with its final destination being the Gaza Strip.
Some 5,500 rations of food, which can feed around 11,000 people, are in addition to the trucks with Spanish humanitarian aid waiting at the border.
The Air Force A400 military aircraft is scheduled to take off from Jordan this Friday, 1 August, to deliver food aid to the people of Gaza using 24 parachutes.
This emergency aid shipment, coordinated between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the AECID, and the Ministry of Defence, is part of Spain's efforts to respond urgently and effectively to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip. As Minister for Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares highlighted, this shipment is "a drop in the ocean" that will serve "to alleviate the Israeli-induced famine in Gaza".
Since the beginning of the conflict, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strengthened the AECID's capacity to provide an emergency response in Palestine. This new shipment of emergency aid comes in addition to efforts already undertaken both directly by the Agency and through humanitarian partners on the ground.
"What is happening in Gaza must end now and cannot be repeated," reiterated Albares, who insists that humanitarian aid must enter regularly, sufficiently and safely in accordance with international standards, and that the only way to avoid humanitarian collapse is to end the war and implement a lasting political solution based on the existence of two States.
"Induced famine"
For Minister Albares, "the induced famine that Gazans are suffering is a disgrace to humanity. We are talking about daily deaths from hunger, with 100,000 children and 40,000 babies at risk of death. Israel must allow permanent, uninterrupted and free passage of all possible humanitarian aid now".
Along these lines, Albares added that in this "difficult moment, we must mobilise, not tomorrow or next week, but now", assuring that "Spain is the country in the international community that has done the most for Palestine. We are doing this for justice and for humanity”.
The Minister also called for a ceasefire that would allow the distribution of aid in Gaza in accordance with humanitarian and neutrality principles.
"This is what I reiterated this week at the UN Conference for the two-State solution in New York, where I further encouraged the countries that have not yet recognised Palestine to follow in Spain's footsteps, as we did in May 2024, to protect the two-State solution", the Minister emphasised. According to Albares, "this is not about sides, it's about lives. It is time to turn words into action".
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