More Norwegian aid to Gaza victims

The Norwegian Government has granted an additional NOK 20 million to organisations reaching the civilian population in Gaza, stating that humanitarian needs caused by the fighting there are acute. In total Norway has now granted NOK 50 million to emergency humanitarian aid since the fighting started in December. “We want to increase our aid to the population of Gaza, seriously hit by the fighting. The Government has therefore decided to grant an additional NOK 20 million to medicine, food and other emergency aid to the Palestinians. With these means the UN, the Red Cross family and Norwegian humanitarian organisations will be able to deliver critical help in Gaza”, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says. Humanitarian organisations have encountered numerous obstacles in their efforts to reach the suffering in Gaza. “We strongly condemn the violence that aid workers and humanitarian transports are being met with in Gaza. International law states that the fighting parties have a clear responsibility to protect civilians and to facilitate humanitarian and medical aid. We have brought this up in the UN and with Israeli authorities”, Stoltenberg says. The UN Security Council has passed a resolution with cease-fire as a central element. The resolution lays out several steps towards a peaceful solution, also stressing the reconstruction role of the Norway-led donor country group AHLC. “What’s most important just now is to see an immediate end to the fighting, in order to avoid the further loss of lives and to reach the Palestinians with the assistance they sorely need”, Jens Stoltenberg says. (NRK/Press release) Rolleiv Solholm