The European Union on Sunday condemned a Palestinian attempt to smuggle chemicals used to make explosives into Gaza by marking it as humanitarian aid from the European Commission. An EU official called the act detrimental for the Palestinians and said, "If this was an attempt to misuse the name of the EU or European Commission it would be an isolated criminal act and we condemn it."
The comments were made after the IDF released a statement on Sunday saying that a truck carrying 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate, a banned substance that can be used to manufacture explosives and Qassam rockets, was discovered at a border crossing in the West Bank. The IDF statement noted that the chemicals were disguised in sugar bags that were marked as humanitarian aid provided by the EU. A photo of the bags showed a white sack with black print on it reading "EEC 2 Sugar Exported from EU".
The EU official said the bag could not be confused with the proper aid given by the EU because the EU does not export sugar and that their bags carry a 12-star symbol of the EU and the name of the European Commission.
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