I wrote to Roberta Metsola

As the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues to deepen, I recently wrote to Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, to urge her to lead by example, not only with words, but through direct action.

With each passing day, more civilians in Gaza die from hunger, thirst, untreated injuries and relentless bombardment. The international community has rightly condemned the violence but condemnation is no longer enough. People on the ground, children, the elderly, entire families are dying while food, water and medical aid sit just beyond their reach.

In my letter, I asked President Metsola to do something that would cut through political deadlock and restore credibility to the European Union’s moral voice: to accompany a humanitarian aid mission into Gaza personally.

I made this appeal because I believe her presence would do more than deliver supplies. It would give a message that Europe remembers its values. That we still believe in the dignity of every human life. And that leadership in a time of atrocity demands courage, not caution.

When Hamas carried out its brutal attacks on October 7, 2023, European leaders responded swiftly. President Metsola herself travelled to Israel in a gesture of solidarity, invoking Europe’s foundational values: human rights, democracy and peace. That same conviction must now extend to Gaza.

Over the past months, aid agencies, UN officials and global human rights bodies have warned that conditions in Gaza amount to collective punishment, even genocide by starvation. BBC reports have shown families surviving on contaminated water and animal feed. Over 85 per cent of the population is displaced. Food convoys are attacked. Flour queues turn into killing zones. This is not a crisis. It is a collapse of humanity.

Gaza is a collapse of humanity- Colin Calleja

The European Union has pledged millions in aid. But, as many officials themselves have admitted, the problem is not resources, it’s access. That is why a high-level political intervention is necessary. A visit by the president of the European Parliament would bring unprecedented visibility, help secure passage for life-saving aid and reinforce the safety of those risking their lives to help.

Some may call this gesture symbolic. But symbols matter, especially when they come with substance. Europe cannot afford to be seen as indifferent or selectively humanitarian. Leadership is not only measured in speeches made in Brussels but in steps taken in Rafah, Deir al-Balah or Khan Younis.

The time has come for Europe to match its values with action. If we genuinely believe in dignity, justice and the protection of civilians, we must act now, not when the last child has died but while there is still time to save them.

Madam President, I hope you will consider this call because silence is complicity. And because history will not remember the complexity of our excuses, only the clarity of our response.

Colin Calleja is dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta.