The EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said that the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement reached between Israel and Hamas must hold in order for humanitarian aid to reach those in need in Gaza.
Lahbib explained in a post on the X platform on Sunday that the ceasefire is a “vital step” in order to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in need in Gaza.
She added: “We need to reach these people to deliver humanitarian aid, children are dying and every effort must be made to prevent further loss of life.”
In another post on the X platform, Lahbib called for support for the efforts of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to deliver aid to those in need.
In addition, she stressed that UNRWA’s work to support Palestinians in Gaza is more important than ever and requires the continued support of the international community.
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On Sunday morning, the Gaza ceasefire agreement came into effect based on the time set by the mediators at 6:30 (GMT).
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the agreement would not begin until receiving the list of the three female prisoners who were supposed to be released today, as Hamas said at the time that its delay in submitting the list was due to “technical field reasons.”
Later, Hamas handed over the list of names to the mediators, while the Qassam Brigades published the names of the three female prisoners, and Netanyahu’s office announced that the ceasefire in the first phase in the Gaza Strip had entered into force at 11:15 Palestine time.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, which has left more than 157,000 Palestinians dead and wounded.
Most of them were children and women, and more than 11,000 were missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
