Smoke and flames rise from a residential building hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Monday.Khamis Al-Rifi/Reuters
Twenty-five countries, including Canada, France, and several European Union member states, issued a joint statement on Monday urging Israel to end its war in Gaza.
“We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now,” said the letter written by foreign ministers.
“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,” the statement continued.
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The countries are urging parties and the international community to come together to bring the conflict to an end through an unconditional and permanent ceasefire. The statement said that “further bloodshed serves no purpose” and reiterated its support of the efforts of U.S., Qatar and Egypt to mediate.
“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.”
The foreign ministers said it is “horrifying” that more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The statement said that the Israeli government’s denial of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza is “unacceptable.”
UN agencies and other humanitarian aid organizations have warned for months that people in Gaza are at risk of famine and have criticized Israel’s aid delivery system. Israel has backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor that has been in charge of delivering supplies to people in Gaza. But since their work began in May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers, according to UN figures.
The statement continued by saying that the hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023 “continue to suffer terribly,” with the ministers condemning their continued detention and calling for their immediate release. The statement says a ceasefire is the best chance of bringing them home and ending the “agony of their families.”
The 25 countries called on Israel to immediately lift restrictions on aid waiting to enter Gaza and “urgently enable” the UN and humanitarian non-governmental organizations to do their life saving work.
“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.”
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The foreign ministers said they oppose any steps toward territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a future 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 and East Jerusalem has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop.”
Israel’s foreign ministry said in a post on X that Israel rejects the joint statement, saying it is “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.”