UK, Australia, allies say Gaza Strip war ‘must end now’
Australia has joined 27 countries in the strongest condemnation of Israel yet, demanding an end to the war in the Gaza Strip as the suffering of civilians reaches “new depths.”
Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand were among the nations to criticise what they called the “inhumane killing” of Palestinians, including hundreds near food distribution sites.
They said it was “horrifying” that more than 800 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid, most in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites.
These sites were backed by the US and Israel to take over aid distribution in the Gaza Strip from a network led by the United Nations.
In a statement by foreign ministers, including Australia’s Penny Wong, Israel was accused of “drip feeding” aid as the people of Gaza starved.
“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the foreign ministers said.
“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.”
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The joint statement opened with the declaration that “the war in Gaza must end now”.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the statement was “disconnected from reality” and it would send the wrong message to Hamas.
“The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas’s role and responsibility for the situation,” it said.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”
Israel’s campaign in has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Strip health authorities.
A mourning mother hugs the bag of her son after he was shot dead at a food distribution point. Photo: AAP
Much of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to a wasteland in more than 21 months of the war that began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies.
The call by about 20 European countries as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and the delivery of aid comes from many countries allied with Israel and its most important backer, the US.
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The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into the Gaza Strip, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians.
Hamas denies the accusation.
The UN has called the GHF’s model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which the GHF denies.
The statement came as Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday (local time), an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held.
The area is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war. Hundreds of them fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy infrastructure and capabilities of the militant group Hamas.
Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.
To the south in Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike killed at least five people, including a husband and wife and their two children in a tent, medics said.
In its daily update, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes across the territory in the past 24 hours.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis incidents.
Israeli sources have said the reason the army had stayed out of the Deir al-Balah districts was because it suspected Hamas might be holding hostages there.
At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in the Gaza Strip are believed to be still alive.
Their families have expressed concern for relatives and demanded an explanation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and the army chief for how they will protect them.
“The people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages – both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn’t know what was at stake,” the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters said.
-with AAP
