Egypt claims Israel-EU agreement did not increase Gaza aid

(Patria) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stated that the flow of aid to Gaza has not increased despite an agreement reached last week between Israel and the European Union which was supposed to achieve this result, Reuters reported.

"Nothing has changed (on the ground)," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters ahead of the European Union - Middle East meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The European Union's top diplomat stated on Thursday that the bloc and Israel had agreed to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including increasing the number of aid trucks and opening border crossings and aid routes.

When asked what steps Israel had taken, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar referred to the agreement with the European Union but did not provide details on its implementation.

When asked if there had been any improvement after the agreement, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters that the situation in Gaza remains "catastrophic".

"A real catastrophe is happening in Gaza as a result of the continuation of the Israeli siege," he said.

Safadi said that Israel had allowed forty to fifty trucks from Jordan to enter a few days ago, but that this was "far from enough" for the besieged enclave.

The European Union's Head of Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, stated on the eve of Monday's meeting that there had been some signs of progress in aid to Gaza, but that there had not been enough improvement on the ground.