Sweden says ‘greater pressure’ must be placed on Israel’ amid looming famine in Gaza

LONDON

The Swedish government on Thursday said that there is a need to put “greater pressure” on Israel following the warnings of famine in Gaza.

The government is allocating $12 million for efforts to fight hunger in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine and the support will be channeled through the World Food Program (WFP), said Johan Forssell, the Swedish international development cooperation minister.

“In addition to providing funding, we are pushing for greater humanitarian access, which is necessary for WFP and others to reach those in need.

“This applies particularly to Gaza, where we are actively following up EU efforts that I was personally involved in initiating with the aim of putting greater pressure on Israel,” Forssell said in a statement.

The minister promised that Sweden would do its part and contribute to reversing the negative developments and preventing famine.

Sweden lifted a freeze on aid for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) earlier this month, pledging to give the initial $20 million to the aid agency.

Sweden, alongside many other nations, had halted funding to UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA over Israeli allegations that some of its members were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Earlier this month, the European Commission said it would release €50 million ($54.7 million) in UNRWA funding.

Finland and Canada also announced this month that the aid will be resumed, citing the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza more than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and over 70,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

International organizations, including UN agencies, have demanded a cease-fire in Gaza and increased humanitarian aid access to address medical shortages, hunger, thirst, and hygiene deficiencies leading to diseases in Gaza.

Earlier this month, the UNRWA said that "hunger is everywhere" in Gaza.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.