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- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World
The global horror for the war in Gaza grows after the killing of hundreds of civilians waiting to receive humanitarian aid.
A group of 25 countries has issued a joint statement of condemnation of the “horrible” deaths and has demanded that Israel end the war and suffering of the civilian population in Gaza.
“The suffering of civilians has reached new dimensions” with death allegedly by Israeli fire of “more than 800 civilians” who expected to receive help at the points established by Israel's troops, says the statement.
The statement is an increase in international diplomatic pressure to Israel to end the war in Gaza and has been signed by the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norther Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the commissioner of equality and crisis management of the European Union, Hadja Lahbib.
The Israeli government rejected the statement as “disconnected from reality” and said it sends a “wrong message” to the Palestine Militia Hamás.
Israel does not allow international media to work in Gaza, which prevents them from knowing firsthand what happens there and verifying allegations of human rights violations.
“Help to droppers”
“The statement stands out for its clarity and reflects Western frustration and political pressure,” says James Landale, BBC diplomatic correspondent.
The signatory countries point out that “the help distribution model of the Israeli government is dangerous, it feeds instability and deprives the gazaties of dignity.”
“We condemn the delivery of considerable help and the inhuman murder of civilians, including children, who seek to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrible that more than 800 Palestinians have been dead while looking for help.”
The Chancellors qualify as “unacceptable” the Israeli refusal to facilitate the help of humanitarian delivery and requires Israel to “comply with their obligations” under international law.
It also demands Hamas to free the hostages that it has “cruelly captive” since October 7, 2023, which, according to the statement “continue to suffer terribly.”
Countries call a high negotiated fire as the only way to start solving the conflict.
Image source, Getty Images
Against population displacement
The statement refers to Israeli plans to displace the Palestinians of Gaza to what Israel defines as a “humanitarian city” and recalls that “permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.” The signatory countries oppose “firmly” any step towards territorial or demographic changes in the occupied Palestinian territories. ”
It also denounces that “the construction of settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has accelerated, while the violence of the settlers to the Palestinians has increased.”
Pope Leo XIV also warned Sunday against the “indiscriminate use of force” in Gaza and “the forced displacement of the population.”
Why international alarms have jumped
The wave of international criticisms of Israel arrives after the killings of Palestinian civilians in the aid distribution centers controlled by Israel and that the Israeli army will begin an incursion on the city of Deir Al-Balah, in which many Palestinians have taken refuge fleeing the fighting in other places of Gaza.
Israel has been the subject of criticism of international organizations for preventing or hindering the entry of humanitarian aid in Gaza and has only allowed it to be distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial organization that has the support of the United States and Israel.
Private security contractors deliver aid in areas controlled by the Israeli army in which hundreds of civilian deaths have occurred.
The signatory countries of the statement denounce the death of “more than 800 civilians.”
In a recent incident in northern Gaza, 67 people died on Sunday according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, when they tried to receive the help of a United Nations humanitarian convoy that had just crossed the Israeli control points.
The United Nations World Food Program confirmed that its caravan, consisting of 25 trucks “found multitude of hungry civilians on which fire soon opened.”
The Israeli army said he had made “warning shots” to withdraw “an immediate threat” and denied the death figures of the Gazatí Ministry of Health.
According to Gaza's civil defense, nine other people died when they waited to receive help in Rafah and four others in Jan Yunis.
The reports of dead Palestinians while waiting to receive help have been daily almost since May.
Surviving “water and salt”
Image source, Getty Images
The United Nations World Food Program reported that “malnutrition increases” in Gaza, with “90,000 women and children who need immediate treatment”
“Almost a person in three spends days without eating,” said the agency.
“Children are starving because they have nothing to eat. People survive with water and salt,” a Gazati woman told the BBC Arab service.
International experts and organizations have warned that more than a million and a half of Gazatis, two thirds of the population before the war broke out, are at risk of severe malnutrition or starving.
The Israeli government has received criticism for not allowing the UN humanitarian agencies to operate freely in Gaza.
The 25 signatory countries of the condemnation statement claim to Israel that “immediately lift the restrictions on the flow of aid and allow the United Nations and non -governmental organizations can carry out their” vital “work in Gaza.
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