Arab News<\/p>\n
LONDON: A group of 25 Western countries including Britain, France, and Canada said on Monday Israel must immediately end its war in Gaza and criticized what they called the \u201cinhumane killing\u201d of Palestinians, including hundreds near food distribution sites.<\/p>\n
The countries in a joint statement condemned what they called the \u201cdrip feeding of aid\u201d to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was \u201chorrifying\u201d that more than 800 civilians had been killed while seeking aid.<\/p>\n
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli government\u2019s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,\u201d the countries\u2019 foreign ministers said in a joint statement. \u201cThe suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s foreign ministry said the statement was \u201cdisconnected from reality\u201d and it would send the wrong message to Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognize Hamas\u2019s role and responsibility for the situation,\u201d the Israeli statement said.<\/p>\n
Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of the war that began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with the latest deaths reported on Monday as Israel began a new incursion in central Gaza.<\/p>\n
The call by about 20 European countries as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand for an end to the war in Gaza and the delivery of aid comes from many countries which are allied with Israel and its most important backer, the United States.<\/p>\n
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing the UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation.<\/p>\n
The UN has called the GHF\u2019s model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which the GHF denies.<\/p>\n
The countries behind the statement said Israel was denying essential humanitarian assistance and called on the country to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n
They urged Israel to immediately lift restrictions to allow the flow of aid and to enable humanitarian organizations and the United Nations to operate safely and effectively.<\/p>\n
They added they were \u201cprepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace\u201d for Israelis and Palestinians.<\/p>\n