Britain joined 27 nations on Monday in an unprecedented joint statement demanding Israel end its war in Gaza, declaring the conflict had reached “new depths” of civilian suffering after more than 800 Palestinians were killed whilst seeking humanitarian aid.
The strongly-worded diplomatic intervention came as Gaza’s Health Ministry reported the death toll from Israel’s military offensive had surpassed 59,000, with at least 85 Palestinians killed on Sunday alone in what officials described as the deadliest day for aid-seekers in the 21-month conflict. The joint statement, signed by foreign ministers from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, marked a significant escalation in international pressure on Israel.
We come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now,” the statement declared. “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”
The diplomatic rebuke specifically condemned what signatories called Israel’s “dangerous” aid delivery model, stating it “fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.” The statement highlighted the killing of civilians, including children, attempting to access basic necessities of water and food.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament on Monday that Israel’s actions were causing “untold damage” to the nation’s international standing. “I firmly believe the Israeli government’s actions are doing untold damage to Israel’s standing in the world and undermining Israel’s long-term security,” Lammy said, noting that 82 per cent of Israelis wanted a ceasefire.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed on Tuesday that 875 Palestinians had been killed whilst seeking aid as of 13 July, with 674 deaths occurring near sites operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US and Israeli-backed private organisation that began operations on 27 May.
Sunday’s carnage unfolded near the Zikim border crossing between Gaza and Israel, where desperate civilians had gathered hoping to access food supplies. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 85 deaths and more than 150 wounded, though the Israeli military disputed these figures, claiming its “preliminary review indicates that the reported number of casualties does not align with existing information.
The Israel Defence Forces acknowledged its troops had fired “warning shots” at crowds they deemed posed “an immediate threat.” However, witnesses and medical staff painted a different picture, with Hassan Abu Marasah, wounded in the head and leg, crying from his hospital bed: “Hunger makes you desperate. I have no food at home. I went out to feed my kids. And this is what happened to me.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed being “appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza,” warning that “the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing.”
Israel swiftly rejected the international statement, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein dismissing it as “disconnected from reality” and insisting Hamas bore sole responsibility for the war’s continuation. “Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides,” Marmorstein wrote on social media platform X.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the joint statement “disgusting,” urging the signatory nations to instead pressure “the savages of Hamas.” Notably absent from the statement were the United States and Germany, two of Israel’s closest allies.
The diplomatic intervention comes amid intensifying military operations in central Gaza, with Israeli forces issuing new evacuation orders for parts of Deir al-Balah on Monday, an area previously considered a relative haven where many international aid organisations operate. The orders have pushed the percentage of Gaza under evacuation notices to 87.8 per cent of the territory, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Hassan Abu Azab, a Deir al-Balah resident, expressed desperation at the new orders: “All of Rafah is under evacuation, and now you have decided that half of Deir al-Balah is under evacuation. Where will we move to?”
The statement also condemned Israel’s controversial plan to create what critics call a “concentration zone” or “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, describing any forced displacement as a violation of international humanitarian law. The diplomats singled out settlement expansion in the West Bank, particularly the E1 area plans, as a “flagrant breach of international law.”
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described the images emerging from Gaza as “indefensible,” telling Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “We’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this.”
Since Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken, Israel’s military response has devastated Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, 59,029 Palestinians have been killed and 142,135 wounded. The ministry reports that more than half of the dead are women and children, though it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Of the original hostages, 50 remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to be alive. The signatories called for their “immediate and unconditional release,” stating a negotiated ceasefire “offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.”
The humanitarian crisis has pushed Gaza’s population of more than 2 million to the brink of famine, with many displaced multiple times. On Monday, ambulances at three major Gaza hospitals sounded their alarms simultaneously in an urgent appeal, whilst doctors held signs highlighting child malnutrition and medicine shortages.
British Foreign Secretary Lammy specifically condemned Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s plan to relocate Gaza’s population, calling it “a cruel vision which must never come to pass.” He emphasised: “There is no military solution. The next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.”
The signatories pledged to “take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region,” though they did not specify what concrete measures might follow.
As diplomatic pressure mounts and the humanitarian catastrophe deepens, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that military operations will pressure Hamas into accepting Israel’s terms. However, with Gaza’s infrastructure decimated and its population facing starvation, the international community’s patience appears to be wearing thin.
The joint statement represents the most significant diplomatic rebuke of Israel’s conduct by Western allies to date, signalling a potential shift in international support that has sustained Israel’s military campaign for nearly two years.
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