Belgium’s humanitarian aid for Gaza is welcomed, but the country has yet to request permission to fly over Israeli territory as part of a B-Fast operation, stated Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, on the VRT’s Zevende Dag programme on Sunday.
Israel intends to oversee food distribution directly to ensure the aid reaches the “right place.” According to the ambassador, aid from humanitarian organisations is often diverted, stolen, or resold by Hamas.
American teams are already on the ground to coordinate aid distribution, she added, inviting the Belgian B-Fast teams to join. However, she noted that Belgium has not yet made a formal request.
Also present on the television programme, CD&V president Sammy Mahdi urged the government to swiftly engage in the aid mission. Mahdi criticised the Israeli government’s approach, suggesting that their distribution strategy aims to draw Gazans to specific areas to take control of other regions of the strip.
The Israeli ambassador in Belgium criticised increasing criticisms of Israel, which she described as becoming a risk to the Jewish community.
“Some critiques are legitimate, but others amount to anti-Semitism,” she argued, adding that such rhetoric fuels violence, as evidenced by the recent murder of two Jews in Washington.
She also criticised the Belgian press and the public Flemish radio. “There are many Hamas supporters in Belgium, one of whom is a popular guest on the VRT,” she claimed, without naming any individual.
