“We come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now,” said a joint statement released earlier today by the foreign ministers of 25 western countries, Britain included, who warned that “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”
The demand for an end to the war has already been dismissed by Israel's foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein who labelled it as “disconnected from reality”, adding that the Israeli government “rejects” it.
The joint statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The US and Germany did not sign it.
“It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid,” said the signatories, as they fiercely dismissed Israel’s US-backed mechanism for distributing aid in the Gaza Strip, warning that the GHF distribution 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,” they added.
Yesterday was one of the deadliest days yet involving Israeli soldiers opening fire on Gazans seeking food and medicine. At least 67 Palestinians were killed and more than 150 injured, according to officials at al Shifa hospital, after Israeli troops opened fire on huge crowds of Palestinians gathering in north Gaza around a UN aid convoy.
The UN World Food Programme said that, soon after it crossed the border from Israel via the Zikim crossing, its aid convoy “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire”. Footage taken by the UN showed Gazans running amid the sound of automatic gunfire. The Israeli military did not deny that its soldiers had shot at the crowds but claimed its troops had fired warning shots towards a crowd of thousands to remove “an immediate threat”.
There is also fresh alarm over the Israeli military’s mass evacuation order issued for areas of central Gaza where it has not operated with ground troops since it began its military offensive over a year and nine months ago.
Aside from being filled with displaced Palestinians, the evacuation order covers an area with key aid warehouses, four health clinics and critical water infrastructure.
The evacuation demand, which signals an imminent attack on neighbourhoods in Deir al Balah, has also alarmed the families of Israeli hostages, who fear their relatives are being held there, 20 of whom are still thought to be alive.
“The families of hostages are shaken and fearful after the announcement by the IDF of its intent to operate in central Gaza,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement on Sunday. “Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all the hostages,” they added.
In the joint statement released by foreign ministers today, they also acknowledged that the hostages held by Hamas since October 7 “continue to suffer terribly”, adding: “a negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families”.
As for how the “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” they are calling for will be realised, they insisted: “We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve one”.
Yet the plea comes as the ongoing ceasefire talks being held in Qatar have, according to mediators, once again stalled - even despite Donald Trump claiming exactly a fortnight ago: “There’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas this week”.
While the statement issued today by 25 foreign ministers, David Lammy included, offers strong condemnation, it ultimately amounts to a mere threat to act in the future.
“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region,” they insist, in what critics will deem as harsh but ultimately empty words, paired with further inaction.
Caitlin Allen
Deputy Editor
ON REACTION TODAY
Ian Stewart
Equities on a roll
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