Germany said on Thursday it is providing €25 million (US$27 million) for Holocaust survivors in Israel to help them cope with the effects of the war in Gaza.
Each of the 113,000 Jewish survivors in Israel will receive a one-off payment of €220, (US$235) according to the Claims Conference, an organisation that seeks damages for Holocaust survivors and which worked with the German government on the scheme.
“Many Holocaust survivors were hit particularly hard by the Hamas attacks,” a German finance ministry spokeswoman said, pointing to the loss of homes or support systems in the form of care.
The additional funds were aimed at helping them “in this frightening war situation”, she said.
The payments are being distributed in Israel in cooperation with the Claims Conference and the Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority of the Israeli government, the ministry said.
Israeli strike in Gaza kills 3 sons, 4 grandchildren of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Israeli strike in Gaza kills 3 sons, 4 grandchildren of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
In a statement, council members “took note of the announcement by Israel to open the Erez [border] crossing and allow the use of the Ashdod port for aid deliveries into Gaza, but stressed that more should be done to bring the required relief given the scale of needs in Gaza”.
But it is unlikely aid trucks will use the crossing, with Israeli media reporting that the government fears protests from far-right groups who are against any aid reaching Gaza.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday it is planning to send food through a new crossing and a port just north of the besieged territory.
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Humanitarian aid workers delivering food killed in Gaza in ‘unintentional’ air strike
Humanitarian aid workers delivering food killed in Gaza in ‘unintentional’ air strike
In its statement, the Security Council reiterated its “deep concern over the human toll of the conflict, the catastrophic humanitarian situation and the threat of imminent famine in Gaza”.
Council members also “called for the immediate lifting of all barriers to the delivery of humanitarian aid at scale to the civilian population and to the unhindered distribution of such assistance”.
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas’ surprise cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, in which around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Israeli data.
Hamas militants also took around 250 hostages to Gaza. Israeli officials say 130 captives are still being held there, including the bodies of 31 presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 30,534 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s ministry of health.