BRUSSELS, Oct. 27 (TASS) – The European Union will allocate another 50 million euro for humanitarian aid to residents of the Gaza Strip, suffering from the ongoing conflict between Israel and radical Palestinian group HAMAS, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen European Commission said on Friday.

She told reporters after the first day of the EU summit in Brussels that a contract worth 40 million euro will be signed with agencies of the United Nations. Ten million euro will be allocated to finance the delivery of aid via Egypt.

Von der Leyen reiterated that the European Union has already allocated 75 million euro for the purpose since the start of the conflict.

EU leaders were unable to negotiate a call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during the Summit in Brussels, instead only calling for humanitarian pauses and opening of humanitarian corridors in the Gaza Strip, says the summit’s outcome statement on the conflict in the Middle East. According to multiple diplomatic sources, a number of EU states insisted on a direct call for a ceasefire, but the summit was unable to come to an agreement.

The situation in the Middle East has escalated abruptly after an armed infiltration of HAMAS militant from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The HAMAS movement considers this attack a response to the actions of Israeli authorities towards the Al Aqsa Mosque at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Israel announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip and started carrying out strikes at the enclave and at certain areas of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes also take place in the West Bank.

Photo from TASS