Britain and 27 other countries condemn Israel’s “inhumane killing” of Gaza civilians seeking assistance

Britain and 27 other countries have called for an immediate end to the Gaza war, saying civilian suffering has “reached a new depth”.

Israel’s aid delivery model is dangerous and condemned the so-called “aid aid and inhuman killings of civilians” seeking food and water.

Gaza’s Hamas Ministry of Health said more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fires while waiting for food over the weekend, while 19 others died from malnutrition.

Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the country’s statement, saying it was “disconnected from reality and conveyed the wrong message.”

The ministry accused armed groups of spreading lies and undermining the distribution of aid rather than agreeing to a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

In the past 21 months of the war with Hamas, there has been a lot of international comments condemning Israel’s tactics in Gaza. However, the statement is known for its candidity.

The signatories are the British Foreign Secretary and 27 other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland.

The statement first declared that “the Gaza war must end immediately”.

Then warned: “The suffering of Gaza civilians has reached a new depth. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuel is unstable and deprived of the human dignity of the Oz people.

“We condemn the drip of aid and the inhuman killing of civilians, including children, to try to meet their most basic water and food needs. It is shocking that more than 800 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy later told the House of Commons in Gaza that “a series of terror”, including a strike to kill “desperate, starved children.”

Rami, who announced an additional £40 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza this year, said he was “strongly supportive of Israel’s security and its right to survive”, but the government’s actions were “dealing countless damages to Israel’s position in the world and undermining Israel’s long-term security”.

Almost every day it is reported that Palestinians have been killed while waiting for food since May, when Israel partially blocked the 11-week lockdown in the delivery of aid to Gaza and, together with the United States, helped establish a new aid system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to bypass existing people overseen by the United Nations.

Israel said the GHF’s system uses U.S. private security contractors to distribute food parcels from locations within Israel’s military zone to prevent supplies from being stolen by Hamas.

But the United Nations and its partners refused to work with the system, saying it was unsafe and violated humanitarian principles of justice, neutrality and independence.

Last Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office said it had recorded 674 homicides near GHF aid sites since it started operations eight weeks ago. It added that another killing was recorded along routes from the United Nations and other aid convoys.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, another 39 people were killed near two GHF sites near Khan Yunis and nearby Rafa on Saturday. The Israeli military said its troops fired warning guns to prevent “suspects” from approaching them before opening the site.

On Sunday, the ministry said 67 people were killed as they poured in towards UN aid trucks near a border crossing point in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots at the crowd “to eliminate direct threats” but objected to the number of killed.

Following the incident, the World Food Program warned that the hunger crisis in Gaza “had reached a new level of despair.”

“People die from lack of humanitarian aid. Malnutrition is soaring with 90,000 women and children in desperate need of treatment,” the UN agency said.

Gaza’s Hamas Health Ministry said on Monday that it had malnutrition since Saturday, with 19 deaths and warned of potential “mass deaths” in the coming days.

“The hospital can no longer provide food to patients or staff, many of whom are physically unable to continue working,” said Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesperson for the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah.

He added: “The hospital cannot provide a bottle of milk for children with hunger because all baby formulas have been exhausted from the market.”

Residents also reported that markets were closed due to food shortages.

“My kids have cried from hunger all night. For the past three days, they have only one plate of lentils. No bread. A kilogram of flour is $80 a week (£59),” Mohammad Emad al-Din, the father of the two, told the BBC.

The 27-country statement also said that Israel’s proposal to transfer the entire 2.1 million people in Gaza to so-called “humanitarian cities” in southern Rafah was unacceptable, and pointed out that “permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.”

They urged Israel, Hamas and the international community to “end this terrible conflict through a direct, unconditional and permanent ceasefire”.

They warned that they were “ready to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political avenue of security and peace.”

Many countries see it as a code that recognizes the state of Palestine, and many have done things, but not all, including Britain and France.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein declined criticism.

“All statements and all claims should be directed to the sole party, responsible for the deal of the release of the hostages and the ceasefire: Hamas, which started the war and extended it,” he said.

He added: “Hamas disagrees with the ceasefire and is busy launching a campaign of lies about Israel. At the same time, Hamas deliberately acts to increase friction and harm to civilians receiving humanitarian aid.”

Israeli military said earlier this month it recognized incidents of civilians being harmed in seeking aid and was working to minimize “population-population friction [Israeli] As much power as possible”.

Cogat also said on Monday that Israeli military groups are responsible for coordinating aid, and that Israel “acts in accordance with international law and is leading efforts to promote coordination of humanitarian aid with international organizations.”

Meanwhile, a GHF spokesman called on UN agencies to join its operations, while also accusing them of “stopping” their work and failing to provide supplies across the territory.

Chapin Fay told reporters that he had been to the border crossing, where he saw aid supplies “rot” because UN agencies would not deliver them.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that 700 trucks of aid are awaiting the UN to take over from the intersection.

The United Nations has said it has been difficult for it to receive and distribute supplies due to ongoing hostilities, Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian movements and the shortages.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza on October 7, 2023 in response to Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

At least 59,029 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the region’s health ministry.