Humanitarian aid

Greece will continue to fully support the maritime corridor offering aid to besieged Palestinians in Gaza, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Monday,  in a doorstep statement as he arrived for the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting on Monday.

A ship delivered 200 tons of humanitarian supplies, food and water to Gaza on Friday, the Israeli military said, inaugurating a sea route from Cyprus for aid to help ease the humanitarian crisis brought by Israel's 5-month-old offensive in the enclave .

Israel says it has placed no limits on the amount of aid that it will allow in to Gaza, and blames failures by the aid agencies for delays

A ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid for Gaza left Cyprus on Tuesday in a pilot project to open a sea route to deliver supplies to a population aid agencies say is on the brink of famine.

Sweden said Saturday it was resuming aid to the cash-strapped U.N. agency for Palestinians with an initial disbursement of $20 million after receiving assurances of extra checks on its spending and personnel.

In a joint statement, the European Commission, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom have announced the activation of a maritime corridor to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

The statement reads:

Even then, only some of the most basic needs of the population would be met.
Therefore, the United Nations has warned that famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" without decisive action, reports Reuters.

In a bid to assess and bolster emergency response capabilities, Sofia is gearing up for a comprehensive drill scheduled for 10 PM on January 31. The initiative, led by the Interior Ministry, aims to evaluate the preparedness of control authorities and reaction forces at both national and territorial levels.

Nothing can "replace or substitute" the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, whose staff were implicated in the Hamas attacks on Israel, the U.N.'s coordinator for Gaza aid said Tuesday even as Israel made new claims against it.

The United Nations said yesterday it will need $4.2 billion to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine in 2024, and to help millions of refugees who have fled the war-torn country.

While the Gaza war has dominated headlines in recent months, Russia's war in Ukraine is set to enter its third year in February.