Middle East: Marcelo signs appeal for aid to enter Gaza

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stated today that he shares the concerns of the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, in relation to Gaza and the call for aid to enter the territory, also made by Pope Leo XIV.

This position is contained in a short note published this afternoon on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic.

The Portuguese head of state “fully shares the deep concerns of the Portuguese prime minister, which are identical to the appeal of Pope Leo XIV, regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza”, the note reads.

Pope Leo XIV today called for “decent humanitarian aid” to enter Gaza and for “an end to hostilities, the atrocious price of which is being paid by children, the elderly and the sick”.

“The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful,” the Pope said, as quoted by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

The Prime Minister and President of the PSD, Luís Montenegro, today condemned the situation in Gaza through a message on the social network X.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is absolutely intolerable. It is imperative to allow the immediate, safe and unhindered entry of all humanitarian aid, to save the lives of millions of human beings, including children, women and the sick,” wrote Luís Montenegro.

This message appeared on the day that there were reports of an attack by the Israeli army on a diplomatic delegation that visited Jenin, in the West Bank, which included a Portuguese diplomat, which led the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Israeli ambassador in Lisbon.

In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is stated that “Portugal roundly condemns the attack by the Israeli army on the diplomatic delegation that visited Jenin, in the West Bank” which “calls into question International Law”.

According to the Portuguese Government, the delegation “was accompanied by more than 20 diplomats and representatives of the media, including Ambassador Frederico Nascimento, head of the diplomatic mission in Ramallah, who is safe”.

Israel announced on Tuesday that it had allowed trucks carrying baby food into Gaza, on the same day that the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that two million Palestinians were going hungry.

The organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused Israel of only allowing “ridiculously insufficient” aid into Gaza so as not to be accused of “starving the population to death”.