logo
UK, Canada and 23 other countries slam Israel over Gaza, say war ‘must end now'

UK, Canada and 23 other countries slam Israel over Gaza, say war ‘must end now'

NBC News5 days ago
LONDON — Twenty-five countries including Britain, Japan and a host of European nations issued a joint statement on Monday saying the war in Gaza 'must end now' — the latest sign of allies' sharpening language as Israel's isolation deepens.
The foreign ministers of countries also including Australia and Canada said 'the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.' They condemned 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.'
The statement described as 'horrifying' the recent deaths of over 800 Palestinians who were seeking aid, according to the figures released by Gaza's Health Ministry and the U.N. human rights office.
'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the countries said. 'The Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.'
Notably absent from the new statement were the U.S. and Germany, with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee lashing out at the declaration.
"Disgusting! 25 nations put pressure on Israel instead of savages of Hamas! Gaza suffers for 1 reason: Hamas rejects EVERY proposal. Blaming Israel is irrational," he wrote on X.
Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, wrote on X that he spoke with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Monday and expressed the 'greatest concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation' in Gaza as Israel's offensive widens. He called on Israel to implement agreements with the EU to enable humanitarian aid.
Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians is in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Many people have been displaced multiple times.
Most of the food supplies Israel has allowed into Gaza go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American group backed by Israel. Since its operations began in May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials.
Israel's 21 months of war with Hamas have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, sparked worldwide protests and led to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Allies' criticism about Israel's actions has had little clear effect. In May, Britain, France and Canada issued a joint statement urging Netanyahu's government to stop its military operations in Gaza and threatening 'concrete actions' if it didn't.
Israel rejects criticism of its wartime conduct, saying its forces have acted lawfully and blaming civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in populated areas. It says it has allowed enough food in to sustain Gaza and accuses Hamas of siphoning off much of it. The United Nations says there is no evidence for widespread diversion of humanitarian aid.
The new joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire, saying countries are prepared to take action to support a political pathway to peace in the region.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

At least 57 killed in Gaza in 24 hours as Israel withdraws from ceasefire talks
At least 57 killed in Gaza in 24 hours as Israel withdraws from ceasefire talks

The Guardian

timea minute ago

  • The Guardian

At least 57 killed in Gaza in 24 hours as Israel withdraws from ceasefire talks

At least 57 people were killed in Gaza over the last 24 hours, many killed while seeking aid as well as by Israeli airstrikes, with ceasefire talks appearing to have hit a dead end amid a worsening starvation crisis. Many were shot dead as they were waiting for trucks carrying aid close to the Zikim crossing into Israel . It has become common for hungry crowds to gather and wait for aid trucks to enter Gaza as mass starvation spreads, which humanitarians widely blame on Israel's blockade on the territory. At least 124 people have died from starvation in Gaza, 84 of them children, the Palestinian news agency reported. On Saturday morning, an infant died from malnutrition, the third baby to die in 24 hours from hunger. Israeli strikes killed more people across the Gaza Strip, including four people in an apartment building in Gaza City on Saturday. The killings come as ceasefire talks have appeared to stall, with the US and Israel withdrawing their negotiating teams from Doha on Thursday. The US president, Donald Trump, blamed Hamas for the collapse in talks, saying that he did not think the group wanted a deal. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Friday that he was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire discussions, without elaborating what those options could be. Hamas officials have rebuffed claims that they are to blame for the haltering ceasefire talks, and instead have dismissed the Israeli and US withdrawal as a negotiating tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks, suggested that talks could resume soon. 'Trump's remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files,' the senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP. The break in talks came after Hamas gave its response to an earlier ceasefire proposal. The two parties are at odds over where Israeli troops would be stationed during the ceasefire, as well as aid access in Gaza and the number of Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israeli hostages. As ceasefire talks dragged on, Gaza's population has suffered from mass starvation. More than 90,000 women and children were in 'urgent need' of treatment for malnutrition, with one in three people in Gaza going for days without eating, the World Food Programme warned. Rania al-Sharahi, a 44-year-old mother of six who is pregnant, said she has lost 22 kg, despite her pregnancy. She struggles to find food for her children, who are often forced to scrounge for water and beg for scraps of food from neighbours. 'As for bread, we don't even talk about it any more. It has become a luxury. We haven't had any in over 10 days. I dream of eating something sweet, anything sugary that might give me some energy,' al-Sharabi said. Her husband and children do not go to aid distribution points run by the private US Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), where more than 1,000 people have been killed while trying to get aid in the last two months. Al-Sharahi and her children are at the mercy of the kindness of strangers and do not know when or from where their next meal will come. 'I see my children every day suffering from hunger and searching for water. How am I supposed to feel? Our tears have dried from crying so much,' al-Sharahi said. Israel has downplayed the starvation crisis, suggesting a coordinated media campaign is tarnishing its image. It has said that aid is waiting to be distributed but blames the UN for failing to do so. The UN has said that distributing aid in Gaza has become impossible owing to the litany of restrictions Israel puts on the organisation. It also said the majority of their requests to distribute aid are rejected by Israel and complain of regular delays by Israel to respond to their requests. Israel has boasted that it has let in 4,500 aid lorries into Gaza since ending its total blockade on the strip in May. But this amounts to about 70 truckloads each day, a number the UN says is inadequate and a far cry from the prewar total of 500 each day. Israel has come under immense global pressure as images of starving babies are circulated around the world. It has said that it will allow airdropped aid to resume for the first time in months. Jordan, which will conduct airdrops, said that it will be dropping mostly food and milk formula. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said that he was 'working urgently' with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza, as he comes under increasing pressure to recognise a Palestinian state. The head of Unrwa, the main UN agency serving Palestinians, Philippe Lazzarini criticised the airdrops, calling them a 'distraction'. 'Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction and screensmoke,' Lazzarini said in a post on X. France announced on Thursday that it would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly in September, a move meant as a show of public disapproval toward Israeli actions in Gaza. France is expected to try to rally other European nations to also recognise the Palestinian state before the assembly. On Saturday, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that Italy would not recognise the Palestinian state, suggesting it would be 'counterproductive'. 'I am very much in favour of the state of Palestine but I am not in favour of recognising it prior to establishing it,' Meloni told Italian newspaper La Republica. Nearly 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a military operation there in response to the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 which killed about 1,200 people.

PETER HITCHENS: Only two views are allowed on Gaza... and both are simple-minded rubbish
PETER HITCHENS: Only two views are allowed on Gaza... and both are simple-minded rubbish

Daily Mail​

timea minute ago

  • Daily Mail​

PETER HITCHENS: Only two views are allowed on Gaza... and both are simple-minded rubbish

There are two permitted views on the horrors in Gaza, and I don't hold either of them. What should I do? I simplify only slightly. The first view, popular among 'Right-wing' media, is that the hideous Hamas massacre of October 2023, and the seizure of hostages, justifies Israel 's actions – and that if you oppose them you must therefore be a Hamas sympathiser and an anti-Semite. And quite possibly a terrorist.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store