London: Foreign Ministers of 25 countries and the European Union issued a joint statement urging the immediate end of war in the Gaza Strip.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the UK's Foreign Office mentioned that the statement was signed by Foreign Ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.
"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," read the statement. The ministers condemned the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, who are seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. They described the killing of more than 800 Palestinians while seeking aid as horrific.
The statement further criticized the Israeli Government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population, calling it unacceptable and urging Israel to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law. It also called for the immediate and conditional release of prisoners held by Hamas, emphasizing that a negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.
The ministers urged the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to carry out their life-saving work safely and effectively. The statement also rejected proposals to move the Palestinian population into a "humanitarian city," labeling such plans as "completely unacceptable" and a violation of international humanitarian law.
The statement expressed strong opposition to any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, describing them as a breach of international law that undermines the two-state solution. It noted the accelerated settlement building across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the increasing settler violence against Palestinians, stating that it must stop.
The ministers urged all parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to end the conflict through an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, stressing that further bloodshed serves no purpose. They reaffirmed their complete support for the efforts of the US, Qatar, and Egypt to achieve this goal and voiced their preparedness to take action and support a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and the entire region.