Switzerland urges Israel to immediately lift Gaza blockade

GENEVA

A senior Swiss diplomat on Friday called on Israel to immediately end its blockade of the Gaza Strip, warning that aid deliveries remain far below the level needed.

“A month ago, we summoned the Israeli ambassador to say that this humanitarian blockade must be lifted immediately,” Monika Schmutz Kirgoz, head of the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Division, told the public broadcaster SRF.

“Switzerland continues to insist that normal humanitarian aid can now reach the Gaza Strip. It is ready with 6,000 trucks,” she added. “The most important thing for us is that this famine can now be averted."

She noted that although some aid has been trickling into Gaza since Monday, it represents just a fraction of what is required.

“Six on Monday, 97 on Tuesday, 100 yesterday – that’s nowhere near enough. We need 600 trucks every day,” she said.

Kirgoz also said Switzerland is part of the “entire international community” demanding immediate access for humanitarian aid, a call it has been making for more than two months.

Switzerland distances itself from Israeli-backed Gaza aid foundation

Kirgoz also ruled out Switzerland’s participation “at the moment” in the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US- and Israel-backed initiative to distribute aid to the battered enclave.

“Very little is known about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. There was a single information event at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. Our embassy representatives were there. There are many question marks,” she said.

Switzerland understands the foundation is US-based, with a branch in Geneva that is not yet operational, Kirgoz said, and stressed: “Very little concrete information was given at the event in Tel Aviv.”

She also noted that Switzerland had observed the arrival of around 150 American special forces in Israel.

Kirgoz has worked at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs since 1996 and previously served as the ambassador to Lebanon and Italy. She has led the ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Division since early 2025.