File Photo: EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas addresses media representatives as she arrives for an European Union Foreign Affairs Council Meeting at The Europa Building in Brussels. AFP
"The mission will be an occasion to discuss the conflict in Gaza; recall the importance of unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale into and throughout Gaza; and call for an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage release agreement," it said.
The top European diplomat will meet senior Israeli and Palestinian ministers.
The United Nations said on Friday Gaza was facing a "nightmare" since Israel resumed aerial bombardment and ground operations this week after a six-week ceasefire.
Aid workers warned of a desperate situation that had been made worse by Israel's decision earlier this month to cut off aid and electricity to Gaza over a deadlock in negotiations over phase two of the ceasefire.
Kallas was due in Israel to meet President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
She will not meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes".
In the occupied West Bank, Kallas will hold talks with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Mustaf, her office said.
Negotiations have stalled between Israelis and Palestinians over how to proceed with a ceasefire, whose first phase expired on March 1.
Israel and the United States have sought to change the terms of the ceasefire deal.
Hamas, which runs Gaza, has rejected this as a violation of the agreement all parties signed.
The first phase of the truce had enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance, and an exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Since it ended, the Netanyahu government has again blocked aid entering the densely populated strip and renewed intense air strikes.
The strikes have been condemned by the United Nations and countries around the world, while the families of Israeli captives pleaded with Netanyahu to halt the violence.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel's ensuing bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed at least 50,021 people, most of them women and children, with more than 113,000 others injured, the Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday.
The United Nations confirmed its figures to be reliable.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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