EU, another 30 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon. Borrell condemns new Israeli raids on health workers

Brussels – The European Commission will allocate additional €30 million for humanitarian aid in Lebanon, adding to the 10 million already announced on September 29. According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are already more than 130,000 new internally displaced persons as a result of Israeli shelling over the past week. As of October 2023, about 350 thousand 35 per cent of them are children.

In September 2024 alone, the casualties caused by Israel’s raids would already be more than 1,000 and over 8,000 injured. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, condemned the killing last night of seven people in central Beirut, including paramedics. “Israeli Defense Forces again targeted health workers overnight,” denounced the EU diplomacy chief. In “violation of international humanitarian law.”

According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, twenty-eight health workers have been killed in Lebanon in the past 24 hours. Emergency packages allocated by the EU—which in 2024 totalled €104 million—are intended to provide “urgent food assistance, shelter and health care, as well as other essential aid.” Lebanon has also requested activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, through which the Commission is facilitating the delivery of additional assistance from member countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “extremely concerned about the continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East.”

Tel Aviv breaks up with UN: Guterres “not worthy” of entering Israel

Meanwhile, the Jewish state declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “persona non grata.” “An Israel-hating secretary-general who gives support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers. Guterres will be remembered as a stain in the history of the United Nations,” this is the grave accusation of Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, against the UN secretary, guilty, according to Israel, for failing to “unequivocally condemn Iran’s criminal attack against Israel.” Guterres will no longer be allowed to set foot on Israeli soil.

Another harsh tear—the umpteenth since October 7—from Tel Aviv toward the international community. Borrell immediately rushed to support Guterres: “We support the Secretary-General of the United Nations in his tireless efforts to achieve peace in all conflicts, particularly in the Middle East. We deplore the unjustified attacks against him as well as the unacceptable number of casualties among UN aid workers,” he commented in a post on X.