The UK and 25 other countries have signed a statement calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, saying the suffering of civilians there “has reached new depths.”
The statement, released by the UK Foreign Office on Monday was signed by the 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 and the UK, along with the EU commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management.
The US has not signed the statement.
The statement in full reads: “We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now. 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.
“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.
“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. The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release.
“A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families. We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs [non-governmental organisations] to do their life-saving work safely and effectively. We call on all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law.
“Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a “humanitarian city” are completely unacceptable. Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law. We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s civil administration, if implemented, would divide a Palestinian state in two, marking a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution.
“Meanwhile, settlement building across the West Bank including east Jerusalem has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop. We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire.
“Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this. We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.