BY : Mohammed Arifeen.
The countries also denounced Israel’s aid delivery model in Gaza, saying it ‘deprives Palestinians of human dignity’. More than two dozen countries have called for an immediate end to the war on Gaza, saying that suffering there had “reached new depths” in the latest sign of allies’ sharpening language as Israel’s international isolation deepens.
The statement on Monday came after more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million residents. Israeli allies the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the European Union, 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 captives held by Palestinian fighters and the free flow of much- needed aid. General Assembly must override US veto to aid Gaza famine victims under Israeli siege: UN food envoy. They condemned “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 UN and the Gaza Health Ministry have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month total blockade.“ The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the countries said. “The Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must
comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
“European nations have condemned the situation in Gaza, and now you have foreign ministries – such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan – that put their names in this statement. The new joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire, saying countries are prepared to take action to support a political pathway to peace in the region.
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in ceasefire talks, but there appears to be no breakthrough, and it is not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt.
Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel’s military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations.
Speaking to Parliament, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy thanked the United States, Qatar and Egypt for their diplomatic efforts to try to end the war.“There is no military solution,” Lammy said. “The next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.”Israel launched the war on Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,129 people and taking 251 others captive. Fifty captives remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, mostly
women and children. Israel aid sites in starved Gaza a ‘sadistic death trap’ – UN Members of a private US security company, contracted by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group which the UN refuses to work with over neutrality concerns, direct displaced Palestinians as they gather to receive relief supplies at a distribution centre in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2025. Western foreign ministers denounce Israeli
attacks on Gaza aid seekers The Israeli military killed more than 60 Palestinians, including 11 aid seekers, in attacks across Gaza as it launched a ground invasion of central Deir el-Balah for the first time during the 21- month war. Deadly malnutrition was reported throughout the Strip by the UN, international organizations, local authorities, and footage from hospitals. The Israeli blockade has also led to an acute shortage of drinking water.
Hamas said it is talking to other Palestinian factions and that it hopes an “honourable” ceasefire agreement can be reached as quickly as possible, which would end the “suffering of Palestinians”.
Israel’s government dismissed a statement by 25 countries – including the UK, France, Italy and Japan – that called for the immediate end of the war as “disconnected from reality”, while the US ambassador to Israel called it “disgusting”.
The Israeli army killed another Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon and bombed Yemen’s Hodeidah port. The Houthis launched drones from Yemen towards Israel, which were intercepted.
Palestinians were arrested during Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank, which included torching a home in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem.
UK admonishes Israel for ‘litany of horrors’ in Gaza. Israel is “tarnishing” its reputation by ignoring calls from dozens of nations for an immediate end to its devastating war on Gaza, the UK’s foreign secretary says.
Palestinians have been subjected to a “grotesque spectacle” and a “litany of horrors”, said David Lammy as he addressed parliamentarians.
The comments come after Israel launched a major ground assault targeting Deir el-Balah, the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the besieged enclave. Lammy said ignoring the international community is “tarnishing greatly the reputation of Israel”.
“I utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs. I firmly believe the Israeli government’s actions are doing untold damage to Israel’s standing in the world, and undermining Israel’s long-term security.”
