Lammy and counterparts accuse Israel of depriving Gazans of ‘human dignity'
The Foreign Secretary and counterparts from 24 other nations including Australia, Canada and France, plus the EU commissioner for equality, urged the Israeli government to 'immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid'.
They also described proposals to move 600,000 Palestinians to a so-called 'humanitarian city' in Rafah as 'completely unacceptable'.
In a statement shared on Monday afternoon, the politicians said: 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.
'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn 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 suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.
Alongside 25 other partners, the UK message is clear: the war in Gaza must end now.
We need an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages and a full resumption of aid. https://t.co/drlpbidmWl
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 21, 2025
They said it is 'horrifying' that hundreds of Palestinians 'have been killed while seeking aid' and that the 'Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable'.
The foreign ministers reiterated calls for the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas to be released and asked for 'all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law'.
Earlier this month Israeli defence minister Israel Katz laid out plans for the 'humanitarian city' in Rafah, Gaza's most southern city which has been heavily damaged through the war.
He reportedly said that the military would initially move 600,000 Palestinians there, with the aim of eventually transferring the whole population to Rafah.
'Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a 'humanitarian city' are completely unacceptable,' the foreign ministers said on Monday.
'Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.'
The signatories also pledged that they would be 'prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire'.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry have said dozens of people were killed trying to access food aid over the weekend.
At the Commons Liaison Committee, Sir Keir Starmer restated his view that the situation in Gaza is 'intolerable'.
He reiterated the UK's commitment to recognising a Palestinian state 'at a time most conducive to the prospects of peace' in the region.
The Prime Minister told MPs: 'The situation on the ground in Gaza is intolerable on so many levels and we make that absolutely clear in all our exchanges with Israel and with other countries.
'Whether that's the deaths of those that are queuing for aid, whether it's the plans to force Palestinians to live in certain areas or be excluded from certain areas, they are all intolerable and absolutely wrong in principle.'
Sir Keir's government faced criticism from the Labour chairwoman of the Commons International Development Committee over the continued supply of parts for the F-35 fighter jet to Israel.
Sarah Champion said: 'Alongside 25 other countries, the UK has issued a statement condemning Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank but failed to provide concrete actions on how they will be held to account.
'The committee's recent report on upholding international law, and our challenge on F-35 components, both give the Government practical tools to compel Israel to meet its obligations as an occupying nation.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
27 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Keir Starmer set to push Donald Trump for new Israel and Hamas ceasefire talks
The Labour leader is set to meet up with the US President during his visit to Scotland. Keir Starmer is expected to press Donald Trump on the revival of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as the UK joins efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza. The Prime Minister will travel to meet the US president during his five-day visit to Scotland amid mounting global anger over the humanitarian conditions in the war-torn enclave. Ceasefire talks in Qatar ground to a halt this week after America and Israel withdrew negotiating teams from the country, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a "lack of desire" to reach an agreement. The deal under discussion was hoped to include a 60-day ceasefire, and aid supplies would be ramped up as conditions for a lasting truce were brokered. Sir Keir will raise Washington's work with partners in Qatar and Egypt during his talks with Trump and attempt to discuss what more can be done to urgently bring about a ceasefire, it is understood. They will also chat about the recently agreed US-UK trade deal and the war in Ukraine. The UK is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support. However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has warned that such efforts are "a distraction" that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the Gaza strip, and could in some cases lead to civilians being harmed. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said: "A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. "Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need." Israel has now said it will pause fighting in three populated areas of Gaza and establish humanitarian corridors to enable UN convoys to transport aid to desperate Palestinian citizens, as well as allowing airdrops. In a statement, the country's military said it would enable "safe movement of deliveries of food and medicine" but that it "emphasises that combat operations have not ceased". The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also said that there was "no starvation" in Gaza, despite increasing accounts of malnutrition and starvation-related deaths. Speaking to broadcasters on Sunday, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray acknowledged that airdrops come with "real limits and drawbacks" but that the situation was "desperate and urgent." "Until the restrictions are lifted, until aid is able to get in at the scale and quantity that is needed, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to help," he told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show. He declined to say whether he was confident that Israel's promise to allow UN convoys to reach Gaza would help to feed its population. "Let's see what happens with that," the minister said. "What we are not going to lose sight of is the importance of lifting restrictions on aid getting in so that it can get in at the quantity that is needed to make sure that we can move things forward." Sir Keir will chair a Cabinet meeting next week and is expected to present a UK peace plan to allies, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy due to attend a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York in the coming days. He also held talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, during which Number 10 said they agreed "it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace". A Downing Street readout of the call made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which Sir Keir has faced calls to immediately recognise after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would do so in September. Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week. The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs. The Government says it is a question of "when, not if" statehood is recognised but that its immediate focus should be on getting aid into the territory. Mr Murray said on Sunday: "As a Government, we're committed to the recognition of Palestine, but we need to work with international partners and we need to use that moment to galvanise change. "It needs to be part of a pathway to peace." Sir Keir and Mr Trump, who is in South Ayrshire on a private visit to his Turnberry golf course, are expected to meet on Monday.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Anthony Albanese makes a big call about Australia's stance on Palestine - as outrage grows over civilians suffering in Gaza
Anthony Albanese has ruled out following in France's footsteps after President Emmanuel Macron declared it would recognise Palestine as a state. Macron said the formal announcement would take place at a session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September, in direct conflict with the United States. Despite his growing criticisms of Israel, Albanese said Australia would not follow the lead of France in 'imminently' recognising Palestinian statehood at the General Assembly. Any resolution would need to guarantee Hamas, the de facto ruling authority in Gaza listed as a terrorist organisation by Australia, had no part in Palestine's future, he said. 'We need security for the state of Israel, but you need to have the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians for their own state realised as well,' Albanese told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. 'That will mean security arrangements, it will need agreements as well about the rebuilding of Gaza and the West Bank. It will need the issue of settlements to resolve as well.' Recognising a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution in the Middle East is included in Labor's national platform. 'Are we about to imminently do that? No, we are not,' Albanese said. 'But we will engage constructively. The United States as well will have a critical role in this. They have to play a role.' Albanese once again called for an immediate ceasefire and for Gaza to release Israeli hostages. The PM also said Israel has 'quite clearly' breached international law by limiting food deliveries to starving civilians in Gaza. He spoke of his emotional response to images of gaunt and dying children in the Palestinian territory, while acknowledging increased airdrops of aid by Israel was 'a start'. 'It just breaks your heart,' the Prime Minister said. 'A one-year-old boy is not a Hamas fighter, and the civilian casualties and deaths in Gaza is completely unacceptable. It's completely indefensible. 'Quite clearly it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March. It's a breach of decent humanity and of morality, and everyone can see that.' According to figures from the local health authorities, 294 people have reportedly been killed while attempting to collect aid near militarised distribution points. Australian National University Professor Donald Rothwell, a leading expert in international law, said he could not think of a previous example of an Australian Prime Minister making such a direct and clear statement concerning Israel. 'It's rather exceptional that an Australian prime minister would make such a clear comment about a breach of international law by another state,' he told AAP. He said while unprecedented, Albanese's claim did not appear to be without merit. 'I'm always very cautious to comment about this, but all I can say is that the evidence that I see on my television screen is fairly compelling,' Prof Rothwell said. Not only were Gazans suffering from a lack of food, but dangerous conditions around aid points had resulted in desperate civilians being shot and killed as they sought support, Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia executive director Jennifer Tierney said. 'We are seeing one in four people in our clinics who are malnourished,' she told ABC News. Tierney urged Australians horrified by the scenes in Gaza to get in touch with their MPs and let their feelings be heard. Thousands of protesters turned out in Sydney on Sunday to highlight the threat of mass starvation facing two million Gazans and call for the Australian government to sanction Israel. Prof Rothwell said the effectiveness of Albanese's statement on its own would be limited, but repeating the claim in front of the UN General Assembly in September or pursuing economic sanctions against Israel could carry greater weight. However, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said the government had failed to lay the blame for the war at the feet of Hamas in a statement condemning Israel's denial of aid.
Sky News
28 minutes ago
- Sky News
Donald Trump gives his view on chances of US-EU trade deal - while on the golf course
Donald Trump has said the chances of the US working out a trade deal with the EU are "50-50". Sky News' Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies asked the US president what the chances were while he played golf at his Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland. Later today, Mr Trump will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for talks on the trading relationship between Europe and the US. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
