What diplomats do not say about humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid is a catchphrase in diplomatic rhetoric. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas made statements to that effect while on a diplomatic visit to Egypt last week, where she spoke about Israeli revoking access to Gaza for 37 non-governmental organisations involved in the distribution of humanitarian aid and basic services for Palestinians.

“Without the NGOs, aid cannot reach the necessary scale in Gaza,” Kallas stated. “There is no justification for the humanitarian situation in Gaza to have deteriorated to the current level.”

There was no justification either during the genocide. Or during Operation Protective Edge, which was the worst Gaza had seen prior to the genocide. There was no justification either for the illegal blockade on Gaza which impacted both freedom of movement and economic development. There was no justification ever for Gaza to be managed by external actors whose actions are dependent upon funding and donations, and curtailed to the point of a ban at present.

“It is important that the plans for a technocratic committee to administer Gaza and a stabilisation force move forward without delays. Any power vacuum will just benefit extremists,” Kallas added. The technocratic committee plan, approved by the international community despite its purported disagreements with the Trump administration, will extend colonial domination in Gaza. Kallas could have adjusted her rhetoric to state that the current power vacuum – the ineffectiveness of the PA, the hunting down of Hamas by Israel and more importantly, the absence of democratic elections across Palestine – have created the perfect conditions for the extremists; that is Israel and its colonial collaborators, to thrive in Gaza against the will of the Palestinian people.

Kallas cannot pretend that Gaza had no sufficiency in the past. Colonialism and genocide shattered the territory, not the Palestinian people. Israel poisoned agricultural land, destroyed it and is now encroaching over more than 50 per cent of Gaza to ensure Palestinians have to turn to the failed humanitarian paradigm. The technocratic committee will not reverse colonialism; it will support Israel’s expansionist plans and, by default, ensure Palestinian dependency on humanitarian aid without providing it to the extent that it is needed. More importantly for Israel and its accomplices, the technocratic committee will not commit to Palestinian independence and autonomy.

So when Kallas speaks of humanitarian aid, or any other diplomat, it must be clarified that the catchphrase speaks only of the paradigm’s usefulness for diplomacy, not for the recipients who have been forced into permanent refugee status against their will. Humanitarian aid is supposed to be a temporary relief, but there is no temporary relief when colonialism and genocide are ongoing. Therefore, humanitarian aid has long stopped serving its purpose, while serving colonialism instead. The discrepancy between humanitarian aid and political violence is evident in the funding – when violence is funded by billions in less than a year, pledged donations of millions in a month are insufficient, and purposely so.

The intent behind the humanitarian paradigm is to keep Palestinians in a colonised reality. Kallas cannot pretend not to know.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260113-what-diplomats-do-not-say-about-humanitarian-aid/