48 delegates from the European Union visited Gaza yesterday for a short time, meeting with "civil society" organizations.
In the press conference held by the delegation before they left, the representative of the European Union in the Palestinian Territories, Sven Kohn von Burgsdorf, said, "We are here for two reasons. The first is to show solidarity with the Gaza Strip after 13 years of siege, to identify its problems and provide it with all support in the name of the European Union." .
The second reason is to provide support for fighting COVID-19 and to ensure that Gazans have access to a vaccine.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, since last March, the number of COVID-19 cases is over 26,000, including 169 deaths.
It is unclear whether the Palestinian Authority will provide adequate numbers of vaccines to Gaza. They have withheld medicine and medical equipment over the past decade.
The delegation did not meet Hamas, which welcomed the visit. Not that they don't want to. Sources told Safa news that the Europeans didn't want to stir controversy by meeting with Hamas or other terror groups.
The only government official to meet the delegation was the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Yusef Abu Al-Rish, to speak about the health situation.
On previous occasions, EU representatives have met with Hamas, but they preferred that the meetings are informal and away from the media. Sometimes they speak to Hamas through intermediaries.
The only EU countries that meet directly with Hamas are Switzerland and Norway.