EU Demands Israel Open Gaza Crossings After Floods Destroyed 700 Kilometers of Sewage Infrastructure

The European Union demanded that Israel reopen all crossings of the Gaza Strip and secure "immediate and unimpeded access" for relief agencies, after the floods that struck the Strip this week. The position came in a statement issued Saturday by the office of Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission, stressing that "civilian infrastructure and medical facilities must be protected."

The statement coincided with the killing of two Palestinians in an Israeli drone attack on Saturday, which targeted them as they walked in a street in Jabalia at the northern edge of Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in the city, to which the bodies were transferred. The American field hospital said that others were wounded without specifying the number, while the Israeli army announced that it had targeted Hamas "militants" in the area.

This came after an Israeli airstrike on Thursday on the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Strip that killed at least six people, including a surgeon, and wounded dozens.

The European statement said that the European Union affirms the necessity of respecting international law, including international humanitarian law, at all times, describing "the latest strike on Nasser Hospital" as "extremely alarming."

Local officials and the United Nations explained this week that the damage inflicted on Gaza's infrastructure by Israeli attacks has exacerbated the flooding caused by heavy rains, submerging large areas of the Strip. The Gaza Media Office reported that more than 700 kilometers of the sewage network had been destroyed.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), heavy rains directly affected at least 106,000 people in recent days, with thousands of tents designated for displaced people flooded and latrines overflowing in the camps.

The European Union stressed that Israel must enable the United Nations, its agencies and humanitarian organizations, including non-governmental organizations, to work, "and must abide by all its obligations under international law." It reaffirmed its commitment to the two-state solution, and called for a "complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza" and for "sustainable distribution of humanitarian aid and support for early recovery on a wide scale" to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis.