Western Nations Say Gaza War ‘Must End Now’

Britain and 27 Western allies, including Australia, Canada, France, and Italy, said in a joint statement that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza “must end now,” arguing civilians’ suffering has “reached new depths.”

The statement — which also denounced Israel’s plan to create a “humanitarian city” in Gaza’s south, as well as settler activity in the West Bank, while calling for the release of the hostages — came at a time of continued reports of mass casualty events in the vicinity of aid distribution sites, and of rising malnutrition that UNRWA has said affects some one-tenth of Gaza’s children. It also came as hostage-truce negotiations with Hamas have ground on, without any apparent breakthrough, despite expanded military operations.

Israel rejected the statement, saying it “sends the wrong message to Hamas.

In the statement, the nations’ foreign ministers wrote that “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.”

Near-daily mass-casualty events have been reported in the vicinity of the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid distribution sites, as Israeli troops have used live fire in attempts to control the crowds. The GHF has blamed Hamas for some of the violence, and similar scenes have been reported at sites that are run by other aid organizations.

“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,” said the statement, calling it “horrifying” that “over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.”

Israel has acknowledged deaths near aid sites and has confirmed that troops have fired warning shots when crowds have gotten too close, but has said the death tolls, which mostly come from Hamas-run authorities, are exaggerated.

“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,” said the statement, calling on Israel to “immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life-saving work safely and effectively.”

Israel has criticized the U.N.’s aid mechanisms as vulnerable to exploitation by Hamas, saying the terror group seizes aid and uses it to sustain itself and consolidate its control over parts of the Strip. The GHF said that it has repeatedly offered to work together with the U.N., but the U.N. has refused, saying that to do so would violate humanitarian principles.

The communiqué 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 U.K., as well as the E.U. Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.

It also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the “hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 [who] continue to suffer terribly,” and asserted: “A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.”

FMs: ‘Humanitarian city’ plan is ‘unacceptable’

The statement also condemned Israel’s proposal to build a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of southern Gaza’s Rafah.

“Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a ‘humanitarian city’ are completely unacceptable. Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law,” it said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz floated a plan earlier this month to build a “city” on the ruins of Rafah that would eventually contain all of the Strip’s residents; they would not be allowed to leave during ongoing fighting, as the IDF would operate against Hamas throughout the rest of the enclave.

The military reportedly opposes the plan as “unworkable,” and it has been panned by Israeli opposition figures as “crazy, even by this government’s standards.”

The diplomats also objected to “any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” singling out plans for the controversial E1 area in the West Bank as a “flagrant breach of international law,” and denouncing the surge of attacks on Palestinians by violent West Bank settlers, who have gone mostly unpunished.

“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,” the statement said, affirming support for the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt, which have served as mediators in ongoing hostage-ceasefire negotiations.

“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 concluded, without elaborating.

Israel rejected the statement, with the Foreign Ministry writing in a statement that it “is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.” It also asserted that “all statements and all claims should be directed at the only party responsible for the lack of a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire: Hamas, which started this war and is prolonging it.”

The terror group has “stubbornly” refused the latest ceasefire proposal, which Israel agreed to, is “running a campaign to spread lies about Israel” and “deliberately acting to increase friction and harm to civilians who come to receive humanitarian aid,” the ministry added.

“The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas … At these sensitive moments in the ongoing negotiations, it is better to avoid statements of this kind,” it said.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also slammed the statement.

“Disgusting! 25 nations put pressure on Israel instead of savages of Hamas!” Huckabee said in post on X.

“Gaza suffers for 1 reason: Hamas rejects EVERY proposal. Blaming Israel is irrational,” he added.

While several European allies — including Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia did not sign the document — German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that he had spoken on the phone with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and expressed his “greatest concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation, especially in light of the expansion of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.”

In addition to the joint letter, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy strongly criticized Israel over the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation while addressing Parliament, saying the “new Israeli aid system is inhumane, it’s dangerous, and it deprives Gazans of human dignity.”

“It’s a grotesque spectacle, wreaking a terrible human cost,” he said.

Lammy boasted that the current Labour government has sanctioned violent settlers and Israeli ministers, suspended trade negotiations with Israel, and signed an major agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

The remarks came after Lammy spoke by phone with Sa’ar, who said he told his British counterpart that “Hamas is solely responsible for the suffering of the population and the continuation of the war.”

In his Westminster speech, Lammy detailed attacks by Israeli forces that have killed Gazan civilians seeking aid, and added that “Hamas is contributing to the chaos and taking advantage of it.”

“The Israeli government must answer: What possible military justification can there be for strikes that have killed desperate, starving children?” Lammy continued. “What immediate actions are they taking to stop this litany of horrors? What will they do to hold those responsible to account?”

“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,” said Lammy, arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should listen to “82 percent” of the Israeli public that wants a ceasefire.

“This offensive puts them in grave danger,” he said. “But still Netanyahu persists.”

He called Katz’s plan to move Gaza’s civilians to Rafah “a cruel vision which must never come to pass.”

“The war in Gaza must end now,” said the top British diplomat. “There is no military solution. Negotiations will secure the hostages. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. Hamas and Israel must both commit to a ceasefire now.”

“And the next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.”

Hamas, he said, can have “no role in the governance of Gaza nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.”

The war in Gaza started on Oct. 7, 2023, when some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Some 20 living hostages remain in terror groups’ captivity in Gaza, alongside the bodies of 28 who are confirmed dead, and two about whom there are grave concerns. One of the slain hostages is an Israeli soldier who was killed in 2014. The rest are civilians and soldiers abducted during the Oct. 7 invasion.