EU announces humanitarian aid for the Middle East

As the humanitarian situation in the Middle East worsens amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, the EU has announced an aid package worth €458 million ($525 million), according to the Middle East Eye and agencies on March 16th.

Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s commissioner for humanitarian crises, said: “In a war-torn Middle East, the European Union is stepping up while others step back.”

The EU’s aid pledge comes days after Germany announced an additional humanitarian aid package worth approximately $108 million to the region on March 7th, amid Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Despite expressing concern about human rights in the Middle East, Germany is one of several EU nations that continued to trade arms with Israel amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Although Germany partially suspended arms exports to Israel in August 2025 over Israeli plans to fully occupy Gaza, the suspension was lifted three months later in November.

In January, Germany and Israel signed a security pact to increase cooperation in areas of counterterrorism and cyber defence.

Similarly, Germany approved a $3.1 billion arms deal with Israel in December 2025, under which Tel Aviv would supply Berlin with missile defence systems.

A deal was made with Eurospike, a European-based subsidiary of Israel’s Rafael defence contractor, in October to supply Germany with Spike anti-tank missiles.

Rafael is one of several defence contractors to face allegations of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel’s alliance with Germany has persisted for decades and is allegedly centred around Germany’s guilt over World War II-era atrocities, like the Holocaust.

When footage emerged of a German minister posing in front of a map depicting Palestine and parts of Syria as Israeli territory, Germany was accused of recognising a territorial expansion plan known as “Greater Israel.”

Under this plan, Israel would fully occupy Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, parts of Jordan and parts of Syria.

Israel also encourages Jews from Western nations to emigrate to Israel as part of a broader initiative to maintain a Jewish demographic majority.

The EU has also been accused of enabling Israel’s genocide, with Israeli arms manufacturers benefiting from EU funding, despite a ban on funding research that can be used in warfare.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sparked controversy in October 2023 following the Hamas-led attack and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza when she said the EU stands with Israel.

Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org