(Adnkronos) – Italy is “pressing hard” to get humanitarian relief into the embattled Gaza Strip, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday amid growing alarm that Israel’s total aid blockade is pushing the Palestinian coastal enclave into famine.
“We are pressing hard to get humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, also through the World Food Programme,” Tajani told reporters at the foreign ministry in Rome.
“This is the United Nations instrument with which we have implemented the Food For Gaza project with the support of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority,” said Tajani.
Italy’s government is “in contact with Tel Aviv, with Jerusalem and with Ramallah (in the occupied West Bank) to try to accelerate the entry of aid,” he said.
Rome is also trying to ensure that the Food for Gaza project gets aid to the civilian population directly, bypassing Gaza’s Islamist ruling group and Israeli foe Hamas, said Tajani.
“The government is committed to speeding up the entry times of food and basic necessities for the Palestinian civilian population that is suffering too much in these (many) months of war,” Tajani underlined.
