A group of 25 countries demands the “immediate” end of the war in Gaza for the killings in food cast | International

A group of 25 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Australia or Japan, in addition to a police station from the European Commission, issued a joint statement on Monday in which they demand a high “immediate” fire in Gaza and claim that Israel complies with international humanitarian law. The letter focuses on the delivery of humanitarian aid – specially food, which has caused almost 900 dead in recent weeks – and the fact that hunger is used as a weapon against the population of Gaza.

The signatories warn that the suffering of civilians has reached in recent days “new dimensions”, and denounce the delivery of “to drop -up” and the “inhuman death of civilians, including children, while looking for basic needs.” It is estimated that almost 900 people have lost their lives near the distribution points managed by the Humanitarian Foundation Gaza (GHF), a system supported by Israel and the United States but questioned by the United Nations for its lack of neutrality and effectiveness.

The statement also criticizes the help distribution model: “It is dangerous, it feeds the instability and deprivates the Gazati.” Countries also demand that Israel eliminate restrictions on assistance shipments and allow the UN Humanitarian UN and OGS to act without obstacles. Israel has responded to the statement stating that it is “disconnected from reality” and that it sends a “erroneous message to Hamas.”

The signatories are the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Swedish, Swiss, Swiss. To the brief is added the European Commissioner in charge of crisis management, Hadja Lahbib. The United States and Germany, on the other hand, do not sign the statement.

The statement, without any concrete effect on Israel, also requests “the immediate and unconditional liberation” of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023, of which around 50 still remain captive.

The letter arrives on the same day that Israel intensifies its incursion in Gaza by first launching a land operation over the Balah, in the center of the enclave, the only urban territory in which they had not yet entered.

Never so far, in more than 21 months of war, Israeli occupation troops have entered land in that territory, refuge for displaced from other places, where at least three people have died, according to the Reuters agency. More than 1,000 families have fled from the town after the eviction orders of Israel broadcast on Sunday by the Israeli army. In addition, the United Nations has denounced that 87.8% of the territory of the Strip is subject to orders of forced displacement or has become a militarized area of the Israel army. “This leaves 2.1 million civilians tight in a fragmented 12% of the Strip,” says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The joint statement is also known almost a week after the twenty -seven failed to agree, at a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Brussels, no sanction against Israel despite the finding that it violates its obligations in human rights in the framework of the Bilateral Association Agreement that it maintains with the EU. One of the reasons for not taking the step was an opaque agreement reached a few days before by the high representative for foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, with Israel, for which the Netanyahu government promised to allow a “substantial” increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza. The agreement, according to Brussels, specifically excludes the action of the GHF and demands the distribution of aid through the UN agencies and NGOs that have been working on the ground for some time.