UK seeks answers over US firm’s role in Gaza aid mechanism
A parliamentary committee in the UK is demanding that a US consulting giant explain its activities in Gaza, including its role in establishing a controversial aid group under scrutiny over the killings of hundreds of Palestinians.
Labour Party MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the House of Commons Business and Trade Select Committee, asked Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in a letter on Wednesday for “clarification and information” about its work in the besieged enclave, adding that the query was part of the committee’s “scrutiny of the UK’s commercial, political and humanitarian links to the conflict”.
Byrne’s letter to BCG CEO Christoph Schweizer comes after The Financial Times reported on Friday that the firm had drawn up an estimate of the costs of relocating Palestinians from Gaza and signed a multimillion-dollar contract to help create the Israel- and US-backed GHF.
EU says it reached deal to improve Gaza humanitarian access
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/israelpalestine-statement-high-representativevice-president-kaja-kallas_en
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief says the bloc has reached a deal with Israel to increase aid access to the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip.
“Today, we reached an agreement with Israel to expand humanitarian access to Gaza,” Kaja Kallas wrote on social media.
“This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers. We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,” she said.
In a separate statement, Kallas listed a number of other steps including the reopening of the Jordanian and Egyptian aid routes; enabling the distribution of food supplies through bakeries and public kitchens throughout Gaza; and the resumption of fuel deliveries for use by humanitarian facilities up to an operational level.
She also mentioned the protection of aid workers and the repair and facilitation of works on vital infrastructure, like the resumption of the power supply to the water desalination facility.
“These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas,” Kallas said.
I wonder what that will amount to, desperately needed and a big win if true.
