UK, Canada and 26 other countries say the war in Gaza ‘must end now'
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 UN 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."
Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the statement, saying it was 'disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.' It accused Hamas of prolonging the war by refusing to accept an Israeli-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release.
'Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides,' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted on X.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also rejected the statement from many of America's closest allies, calling it 'disgusting' in a post on X and saying they should instead pressure the 'savages of Hamas.' Germany was also notably absent from the statement.
German 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 more 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. Israel's offensive has displaced some 90 percent of the population, with many forced to flee 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. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at those who approach its forces.
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 UN 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.
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in ceasefire talks but there appears to be no breakthrough, and it's not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed.
Speaking to Parliament, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy thanked the US, Qatar and Egypt for their diplomatic efforts to try to end the war.
'There is no military solution,' Lammy said. 'The next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.' Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Tuesday the hostages needed to be released and the war must end, but the images of destruction and killing coming out of Gaza were 'indefensible.' 'We're all hoping that there'll be something that will break this," Burke told Australian Broadcasting.
Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
Israel's military offensive has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
14 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Macron goes alone on Palestine recognition
PARIS (Reuters) -- President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would become the first Western member of the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state in September has caused diplomatic ructions from the Middle East through Europe to Washington. But it did not come out of the blue. When Macron visited the Egyptian town of Arish on the border with Gaza in April, he was struck by the mounting humanitarian crisis and made clear on his return home that Paris would soon opt for recognition. Working with Saudi Arabia, Macron came up with a plan to have France plus G7 allies Britain and Canada recognize Palestinian statehood, while pushing Arab states to adopt a softer stance toward Israel through a UN conference. But despite weeks of talks he failed to get others on board. Three diplomats said London did not want to face the wrath of the US, and Ottawa took a similar stance, leaving Macron to go it alone. "It became increasingly apparent that we could not wait to get partners on board," said a French diplomat, adding France will work to get more states on board ahead of conference on a two-state solution in September. Domestically Macron was under rising pressure to do something amid widespread anger at the harrowing images coming out of Gaza. Although with both Europe's biggest Muslim and Jewish communities and a polarized political landscape, there was no obvious course of action that would satisfy all sides. Israel and its staunch supporter the US have blasted France's move, branding it a reward for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which ran Gaza and whose attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 triggered the current war. Macron had discussed the matter extensively with both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in advance. Trump said on Friday that France's decision didn't "carry any weight" but added Macron was "a good guy." French officials previously considered an announcement at a conference scheduled for June at the UN, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, to sketch out a roadmap to a viable Palestinian state while also ensuring Israel's security. But the conference was postponed amid intense US diplomatic pressure and after Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Macron's announcement on Thursday is linked to a rescheduled and rejigged version of the UN conference, now planned to take place Monday and Tuesday. That meeting will be at ministerial level, but Paris decided it would hold a second event with heads of state and government on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, where Macron will announce formal recognition. Some analysts say Macron has used the carrot of recognition to extract concessions from Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority which is a moderate rival to Hamas, and other regional players. "Macron here is acting as a catalyst to get the Palestinians to deliver on the needed reforms, to get the Arabs to deliver on a stabilization force and the disarming of Hamas," said Rym Momtaz, editor-in-chief of the Strategic Europe blog run by the Carnegie Europe think tank. Others say while recognition has symbolic value, there will still be no functioning Palestinian state whenever the war in Gaza comes to an end. "Recognition by a European heavyweight like France is indicative of the rising frustration with Israel's intransigent policies," said Amjad Iraqi, senior analyst at International Crisis Group. "What's the point of recognizing a state if they're doing little to stop it from turning into ruins?" French officials point to months of intense Israeli lobbying to try to prevent Macron's move -- and Netanyahu's fierce criticism of it -- as evidence that it matters a lot to Israeli leaders. Sources familiar with the matter say Israel's warnings to France had ranged from scaling back intelligence-sharing to complicating Paris' regional initiatives -- even hinting at possible annexation of parts of the West Bank. But French officials concluded that Netanyahu would do whatever he thought was in his interests in the West Bank anyway, regardless of what France did on recognition. Israel's parliament voted on Wednesday in favor of a non-binding declaration urging the government to apply Israeli law to the West Bank, widely seen as a de facto annexation of the territory. That added to the urgency in Paris. "If there is a moment in history to recognize a Palestinian state, even if it's just symbolic, then I would say that moment has probably come," said a senior French official.
Korea Herald
16 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Ecuador deports hundreds of Colombian inmates as Bogota cries foul
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) -- Ecuadoran authorities said Saturday they had deported hundreds of Colombian prisoners via a land border crossing, after Bogota protested that the move came without prior agreement. In 2024, Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa announced his intention to deport Colombian inmates to ease overcrowding in the country's prisons. Small groups were transferred starting in April. But Colombian President Gustavo Petro opposed the move, saying that a joint plan was needed to safeguard the prisoners' rights. The Colombian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that about 450 Colombians had been deported through the Rumichaca border crossing in Carchi province. Gov. Diana Pozo had previously told reporters that 800 prisoners had been transported through the crossing. SNAI, the Ecuadoran agency which oversees jails, later said in a statement that more than 700 Colombians were in the process of being deported. "This action reaffirms the Ecuadoran government's commitment to internal security and public order," the statement said. The inmates, wearing orange uniforms, waited in line to reenter their home country under the watchful eye of Ecuadoran police and military personnel. Early in the day, some in shorts and t-shirts did exercises while waiting for their turn to cross the border in the chilly Andean air, saying "We want to cross, we want to cross." On Friday, the government in Bogota lodged a formal complaint with Quito, saying such a move without prior agreement was a violation of international law and an "unfriendly gesture." A source in the Carchi governor's office who spoke to Agence France-presse on condition of anonymity said the mass deportation began on Friday, and the 870 inmates slated for expulsion represented about 60 percent of all Colombians in Ecuador's prisons. Juan Morales, an official in the Colombian town of Ipiales, said that authorities had to scramble to handle the influx of people, because Ecuador had not informed them of the deportations. Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that Bogota was told about the plan on July 8. The mayor of the border town of Ipiales, Amilcar Pantoja, told the media on Friday that prisoners without pending legal cases in Colombia would be released. Drug trafficking gangs operating in Ecuador -- some involving Colombian criminals -- have turned the country into one of the most violent in Latin America. The homicide rate has jumped from six per 100,000 people in 2018 to 38 in 2024, among the highest in the region.
Korea Herald
16 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Syria says meeting with Israeli officials sought to 'contain escalation'
DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) -- A Syrian diplomatic source said Saturday that a US-mediated meeting with Israeli officials in Paris sought to "contain the escalation" after recent sectarian violence in southern Syria prompted Israeli intervention. Israel launched strikes this month on Damascus and Druze-majority Sweida province, saying it was acting both in support of the religious minority and to enforce its demands for a demilitarized southern Syria. The Syrian diplomatic source told state television on Saturday that the recent Paris meeting "brought together a delegation from the Foreign Ministry and the general intelligence service with the Israeli side," and addressed "recent security developments and attempts to contain the escalation in southern Syria." On Thursday, US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack had said he held talks with unspecified Syrian and Israeli officials in Paris. A senior diplomat had previously told Agence France-Presse that Barrack would be facilitating talks between Damascus's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. According to the source cited by state TV, the meeting "addressed the possibility of reactivating the disengagement agreement with international guarantees, while demanding the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from points where they recently advanced." After the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the countries' forces in the strategic Golan Heights. It has since conducted incursions deeper into southern Syria, demanding the area's total demilitarisation. Damascus had previously confirmed holding indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement that created the buffer zone. The Paris meeting "did not result in any final agreements but rather represented initial consultations that aimed to reduce tensions and reopen communication channels in light of the ongoing escalation since early December," the diplomatic source said. More meetings were planned, the source said, adding that the Syrian side had emphasised that the country's unity and sovereignty were non-negotiable. The week of clashes in Sweida, which began on July 13, initially involved Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes, but government forces intervened on the side of the latter, according to witnesses, experts and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. The Observatory said on Saturday that the violence had killed more than 1,400 people, most of them Druze, and the vast majority in the week between July 13 and a ceasefire last weekend. On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that he spoke with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and called the ceasefire in Sweida "a positive sign." "The recent violence in Syria is a reminder of the extreme fragility" of the country's transition, Macron wrote, adding that "civilian populations must be protected." Sharaa, in a statement released by the Syrian presidency, blamed the violence in Sweida on "armed outlaw groups opposing the state and competing for influence." The state "will assume its full responsibility in imposing security and holding those who committed crimes to account," he said according to the statement, also rejecting "any external attempts, particularly by Israel, to exploit these conditions." "Sweida is an integral part of the Syrian state and its people are partners in building the nation," he said. Syrian and Israeli officials had previously met in Baku on July 12, according to a diplomatic source in Damascus, coinciding with a visit to Azerbaijan by Sharaa. The two countries have technically been at war since 1948, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria, since 1967. After Assad's ouster, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets from falling into the hands of the new Islamist-led administration.
