West demands end to Gaza war
GAZA: More than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Monday, saying that suffering there had 'reached new depths' as the Zionist military expanded its operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah. Zionist occupying forces killed 134 Palestinians and injured 1,155 others in the Gaza over the past 24 hours amid the nonstop aggression on the enclave, according to Gaza health authorities. The Zionist military offensive in Gaza has killed 59,029 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza's more than two million people, Zionist allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the EU, said in a joint statement that the war 'must end now'. 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,' the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and the free flow of much-needed aid.
The plea came as Deir el-Balah came under intense shelling on Monday, after the Zionist military a day earlier had ordered those in the central Gaza area to leave immediately as it was expanding operations, including 'in an area where it has not operated before'. Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA.
In their statement, the Western countries also denounced the Zionist aid delivery model in Gaza, saying it was '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 statement said.
UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said on X it was receiving desperate messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff, as food prices have soared. 'Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale,' it said.
Belgium's King Philippe described abuses in Gaza as a 'disgrace to humanity' in a speech on the eve of Monday's national day, unusually direct remarks on international affairs from a monarch who traditionally avoids public politics. 'I add my voice to all those who denounce the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent people are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves,' he said speaking at his palace in Brussels.
'The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the United Nations Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis.' It was the first time Philippe has spoken out so strongly and unambiguously about a conflict in public. Belgium's federal government has been more reserved in its criticism of the conflict in Gaza.
Pope Leo spoke by phone on Monday to the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas about the conflict in Gaza and violence in the West Bank, the Vatican said. It was the first official conversation between the two men since Leo's papacy began. 'The Holy Father repeated his appeal for international humanitarian law to be fully respected, emphasizing in particular the obligation to protect civilians and sacred places, the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of force and of the forced transfer of the population,' the Vatican wrote. The pope emphasized 'the urgent need to provide assistance to those most vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict and to allow the adequate entry of humanitarian aid', it said.
Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once by repeated Zionist evacuation orders. According to OCHA, the latest order means that 87.8 percent of the territory is now under evacuation orders or within Zionist militarized zones. Mai Elawawda, communications officer in Gaza for the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the situation was 'extremely critical', describing shelling 'all around our office, and military vehicles are just 400 metres away from our colleagues and their families'.
Deir el-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, told AFP on Monday that 'during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake'. He said this was 'due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area'. 'We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation in Deir el-Balah and the central camps where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering,' he added.
In Deir el-Balah, AFP images showed plumes of dark smoke billowing into the sky. The spokesman for Gaza's civil defense agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that 'we received calls from several families trapped in the Al-Baraka area of Deir el-Balah due to shelling by (Zionist) tanks'. Hamdi Abu Mughseeb, 50, told AFP that he and his family had fled northwards from their tent south of Deir el-Balah at dawn following a night of intense shelling. 'There is no safe place anywhere in the Gaza Strip,' he said. 'I don't know where we can go.' - Agencies
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