Ireland, France and Japan are amongst a group of 25 foreign ministers who have urged Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza.
It comes after more reports of deaths in Palestinian territories over the weekend.
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 UK, together with the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management have made the urgent plea.
“The war in Gaza must end now”, they said in a statement.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”
EU sources say that Israel has not fully implemented promises made in an EU-Israel humanitarian deal.
That agreement has seen an extra border crossing open and the number of aid trucks getting into Gaza increase from an average of 20 to 80 per day.
But that is nowhere near enough.
There is also considerable concern about attempts to distribute aid arriving in Gaza being disrupted by looting by civilians and ongoing shelling by the Israelis.
“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. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. 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”, the foreign ministers say in their statement.
“We call on the Israeli government 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.”
Ireland is also amongst the countries concerned that Israel might be moving towards a resettlement plan for the people of Gaza or the West Bank.
“We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”, the foreign ministers say.
Ten EU member states including Germany, Hungary and Slovakia did not sign up to the joint statement.
Tánaiste Simon Harris signed on behalf of the Irish government.
Here is the statement in full:
We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now.
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. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. 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.
The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release. A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.
We call on the Israeli government 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.
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.
We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a 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 including East Jerusalem has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop.
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. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this.
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.
This statement has been 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 UK
The EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management