(BBC News) Twenty-eight countries have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, where they say the suffering of civilians has “reached new depths”.
A joint statement says Israel’s aid delivery model is dangerous and condemns what it calls the “drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” seeking food and water.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food over the weekend and that 19 others died as a result of malnutrition.
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the countries’ statement, saying it was “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.”
The ministry accused the armed group of spreading lies and undermining aid distribution, rather than agreeing to a new ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
There have been many international statements condemning Israel’s tactics in Gaza during the past 21 months of its war with Hamas. But this declaration is notable for its candour.
The signatories are the foreign ministers of 28 nations, including the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland.
The statement begins by declaring that “the war in Gaza must end now.”
It then warns: “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. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy later told the House of Commons a “litany of horrors” was taking place in Gaza, including strikes that have killed “desperate, starving children”.
Announcing an extra £40m of humanitarian assistance for Gaza this year, Lammy said he was “a steadfast supporter of Israel’s security and its right to exist” but the government’s actions were “doing untold damage to Israel’s standing in the world and undermining Israel’s long-term security.”
There have been almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while waiting for food since May, when Israel partially eased an 11-week total blockade on aid deliveries to Gaza and, along with the US, helped to establish a new aid system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to bypass the existing one overseen by the UN.
Israel has said the GHF’s system, which uses US private security contractors to hand out food parcels from sites inside Israeli military zones, prevents supplies being stolen by Hamas.
But the UN and its partners have refused to co-operate with the system, saying it is unsafe and violates the humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independence.
Last Tuesday, the UN human rights office said it had recorded 674 killings in the vicinity of the GHF’s aid sites since they began operating eight weeks ago.
Another 201 killings had been recorded along routes of UN and other aid convoys, it added.
On Saturday, another 39 people were killed near two GHF sites in Khan Younis and nearby Rafah, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military said its troops fired warning shots to prevent “suspects” approaching them before the sites opened.
And on Sunday, the ministry said 67 people were killed as they surged toward a convoy of UN aid lorries near a crossing point in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots at a crowd “to remove an immediate threat” but disputed the numbers killed.
Following the incident, the World Food Program warned that Gaza’s hunger crisis had “reached new levels of desperation.”
“People are dying from lack of humanitarian assistance. Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment,” the UN agency said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g814gy2e7o