27 countries, including UK, condemn Israel over Gaza suffering

International Desk

Twenty-eight countries, including the UK, have condemned Israel in a joint statement demanding an end to the ongoing war in Gaza. The statement said the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza was reaching its peak and that Israel’s approach to delivering aid was dangerous, creating instability and undermining human dignity. They condemned the “slow delivery of aid and the brutal killing of civilians, including children, in search of food and water”, and said that more than 800 people have died so far while waiting for aid.

The joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain and Sweden. They unanimously said, “The war in Gaza must end now.”

More than 100 people were killed in Israeli strikes while waiting for food over the weekend, and 19 more have died since Saturday from malnutrition, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. The situation is so bad that hospitals are running out of food for patients, staff are working under extreme hunger, and even children are not getting a bottle of milk. Gaza’s markets are closed, food is scarce, and the price of a kilogram of flour has reached $80.

The UN World Food Programme has warned that the “hunger crisis has reached a new level” in Gaza, with 90,000 women and children suffering from acute malnutrition. The agency says “mass deaths” could occur in the coming days if adequate aid does not arrive.

The statement also said that Israel’s proposed “humanitarian city” plan, which calls for the transfer of the entire Gaza population to the southern Rafah area, is a violation of international humanitarian law. The countries called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire and said they were ready to take further steps to this end.

Israel called the statement “detached from reality.” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said the only obstacle to a ceasefire and the release of hostages was Hamas, which was “deliberately lying and inciting conflict among civilians.” Israeli authorities claimed they were complying with international law and were maintaining the GHF aid delivery system, which is effective in preventing Hamas’s theft.

However, the UN and its partners have refused to participate in the system, saying it is unsafe and violates humanitarian principles such as impartiality and independence. The UN human rights office says 674 people have been killed in the vicinity of GHF aid distribution points in the past eight weeks. Another 201 people have been killed along the routes of UN and other aid convoys.

Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said he had seen aid rotting at the border because the UN was not accepting it. According to Israeli authorities, 700 truckloads of aid are waiting for the UN to pick it up, but the UN says conflict, insecurity and a fuel shortage are making it difficult for them to deliver the aid.

Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in response to a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 were taken hostage. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 59,029 Palestinians have been killed since then.