Aid pressure mounts on Israel as nations warn Gaza's suffering has 'reached new depths'
Britain and France were among 25 countries to say Israel's aid policy is 'dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity', in some of their strongest language yet. Israel dismissed their criticism as 'disconnected from reality'.
Sources told The National that the US and several Arab allies were in talks on organising direct airdrops into Gaza to ease a worsening hunger crisis in the strip, whose land borders are tightly controlled by Israel.
The sources said the talks began on Sunday in Cairo and Doha between representatives of Israel on one side and those of the US, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan on the other. Several countries carried out airdrops in 2023 and last year.
A UAE aid ship carrying more than 7,000 tonnes of supplies meanwhile left Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi on Monday to deliver supplies for Gaza. The largest aid vessel to be sent by the Emirates so far, it is carrying food, shelter materials and medical and health supplies, state news agency Wam reported.
Expected to arrive in the next two weeks, the ship is also carrying a fully equipped field hospital that can accommodate 400 patients and 16 ambulances, Hamoud Al Efari, the UAE Aid mission's co-ordinator, told The National.
Adding to the pressure for more aid, Pope Leo XIV spoke of the 'urgent need to provide assistance' in his first call since taking office with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Vatican said. Their conversation came days after three people were killed when an Israeli strike hit Gaza's only Catholic church.
Israel has allowed only sporadic aid deliveries into Gaza since ending a two-month ceasefire in March. In one incident on Sunday, Gaza officials said 93 people were killed after hungry civilians surrounded a World Food Programme convoy carrying flour.
Israel was accused on Monday of firing at civilians with their hands raised near the aid convoy, in the bloodiest incident yet involving aid delivery. 'Gunfire erupted from all directions,' recalled one witness, Musab Abu Omer.
Five more people were reported killed while waiting for aid in Gaza on Monday, as Israel expanded its offensive into the city of Deir Al Balah – which had been spared major ground assaults in the previous 21 months of war. Aid workers have warned of a risk of famine in the enclave.
The secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Jassim Al Budaiwi, called on the international community to 'to take immediate and serious action to end this brutal siege'. He said the Gulf states condemned the 'continued unjust, inhumane and illegal blockade' by Israeli forces.
The joint statement by 25 mainly European countries, who also include Australia, Canada and Japan, called it 'horrifying' that more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.
'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,' they said.
'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.'
Israel retorted that Hamas was to blame for starting the war and failing to release Israeli hostages, as talks approach a dead end on a ceasefire proposal by the US, Qatar and Egypt. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the 25-country statement was 'disconnected from reality'.
'Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides,' it said. 'At these sensitive moments in the ongoing negotiations, it is better to avoid statements of this kind.'
The Israeli army has reportedly proposed seizing yet more of Gaza, where it already claims control of about 75 per cent of the strip's territory, to put pressure on Hamas in the ceasefire talks between both sides falter. Israeli outlet Channel 12 said its sources described the plan as one for 'taking over Gaza'.
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