Smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City

London: Twenty-eight countries including Britain, Japan and a host of European nations issued a joint statement saying the war in Gaza “must end now” — the latest sign of allies’ sharpening language as Israel’s isolation deepens.

The foreign ministers of countries also including Australia and Canada said “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.” They condemned “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 described as “horrifying” the recent deaths of over 800 Palestinians who were seeking aid, according to the figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry and the U.N. human rights office.

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the countries said. “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.”

Israel and U.S. reject the criticism

Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the statement, saying it was “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.” It accused Hamas of prolonging the war by refusing to accept an Israeli-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release.

“Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted on X.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also rejected the statement from many of America’s closest allies, calling it “disgusting” in a post on X and saying they should instead pressure the “savages of Hamas.”

Germany was also notably absent from the statement.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X that he spoke with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Monday and expressed the “greatest concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza as Israel’s offensive widens. He called on Israel to implement agreements with the EU to enable more humanitarian aid.

A worsening humanitarian crisis

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians is in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Israel’s offensive has displaced some 90% of the population, with many forced to flee multiple times.

Most of the food supplies Israel has allowed into Gaza go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American group backed by Israel. Since its operations began in May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at those who approach its forces.

Israel’s 21 months of war with Hamas have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, sparked worldwide protests and led to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has brushed off previous criticism

Allies’ criticism about Israel’s actions has had little clear effect. In May, Britain, France and Canada issued a joint statement urging Netanyahu’s government to stop its military operations in Gaza and threatening “concrete actions” if it didn’t.

Israel rejects criticism of its wartime conduct, saying its forces have acted lawfully and blaming civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in populated areas. It says it has allowed enough food in to sustain Gaza and accuses Hamas of siphoning off much of it. The United Nations says there is no evidence for widespread diversion of humanitarian aid.

The new joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire, saying countries are prepared to take action to support a political pathway to peace in the region.

Speaking to Parliament, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy thanked the U.S., Qatar and Egypt for their diplomatic efforts to try to end the war.

“There is no military solution,” Lammy said. “The next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.”

Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Tuesday the hostages needed to be released and the war must end, but the images of destruction and killing coming out of Gaza were “indefensible.”

“We’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this,” Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

Tel Aviv: Twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution centre run by an Israeli-backed American organisation in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, mostly from being trampled, the group said.

They were the first deaths reported at one of the group’s sites, though hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces on the roads leading to them, according to witnesses and health officials.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 41 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials.

The Gaza Humanitarian Fund accused the Hamas group of fomenting unrest at the food distribution centre, leading to a “dangerous surge,” though it provided no evidence to support the claim.

Witnesses said GHF guards threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on people pressing to get into the site before it opened, causing a panic in the narrow, fenced-in entrance.

Since the group’s operations began in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while on roads heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials.

GHF’s four sites are all in military-controlled zones, and the Israeli military has said its troops have only fired warning shots to control crowds.

Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, and the territory is teetering on the edge of famine, according to food security experts.

GHF said it believed that 19 of the dead died from trampling at its food distribution centre between the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah and one was killed by a stabbing in the crowd.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 17 people suffocated at the site and three others were shot. It was not clear if the shootings took place during the crush or earlier on the road to the center. The witnesses did not report shots fired at the center but said Israeli troops fired toward the crowds as they headed to it.

Witnesses said that thousands of Palestinians arrived at the site early in the morning, and the American contractors guarding it did not open the gates. It was not clear if it was before the site’s opening time or if it was not operating at all, since schedules often change.

The crowd surged forward at the turnstiles in the fenced-in entranceway, said one survivor, Ahmed Abu Amra.

“The Americans were calling out on the loudspeakers, Go back, go back.’ But no one could turn around because it was so crowded,” he said. “Everyone was on top of each other. We tried to pull out the people who were underneath, but we couldn’t. The Americans were throwing stun grenades at us.”

Other witnesses said the contractors used pepper spray as well. The Health Ministry said tear gas was used, but GHF denied that and said its contractors deployed “limited use of pepper spray.” It said they fired no shots at the crowd.

“Everyone suffocated from people crushing on top of each other,” said Omar al-Najjar, a Rafah resident, as he and other men carried a wounded man on a stretcher. He said the chaos at the sites is forcing Palestinians to “march towards death.”

GHF said it believed elements in the crowd “armed and affiliated with Hamas” fomented the unrest. It said that its contractors identified men with firearms in the crowd and confiscated one.

Distribution at the GHF sites has often been chaotic. Boxes of food are left stacked on the ground inside the center and, once opened, crowds charge in to grab whatever they can, according to witnesses and videos released by GHF itself.

In videos obtained recently by The Associated Press from an American contractor working with GHF, contractors are seen using tear gas and stun grenades to keep crowds back behind metal fences or to force them to disperse. Gunshots can also be heard.

The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday that 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food since May. Of those, 674 were killed while en route to GHF food sites. The rest were reportedly killed while waiting for aid trucks entering Gaza.

Israeli strikes killed 22 people in Gaza City, including 11 children and three women, and 19 others in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it has struck more than 120 targets in the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas military infrastructure of tunnels and weapons storage facilities.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that hospitals have received a total of 94 bodies over the past 24 hours, with another 252 wounded.

Israel blames Hamas for the civilian deaths because the group often operates in residential areas.

Also on Wednesday, the Israeli military announced the opening of a new corridor — the fourth — that bisects Khan Younis, where Israeli troops have seized land in what they say is a pressure tactic against Hamas. In the past, these narrow strips of land have been a serious hurdle during ceasefire negotiations, as Israel has said it wants to maintain control over them.

Indirect negotiations in Qatar between Israel and Hamas are at a standstill, after 21 months of war, which began with the Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. That day, fighters killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Fifty hostages are still being held, less than half of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other international organisations consider its figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties.

Tel Aviv(Israel): Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday, while health officials in the Palestinian territory said 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes.

The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the White House for talks with US President Donald Trump about a ceasefire plan to pause the Gaza fighting. While there was no announcement of a breakthrough, there were signs of progress toward a deal.

The killings of the soldiers could add to the pressure on Netanyahu to strike a deal in Israel, where polls have shown widespread support for ending the war.

An Israeli security official said explosive devices were detonated against the soldiers during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, which was an early target of the war and an area where Israel has repeatedly fought regrouping fighters.

Hamas members also opened fire on the forces who were evacuating the wounded soldiers, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to discuss the incident with the media.

The military said 14 soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously. It brings the toll of soldiers killed to 888 since the war against Hamas began in 2023.

The soldiers died roughly two weeks after Israel reported one of its deadliest days in months in Gaza, when seven soldiers were killed after a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armoured vehicle.

In a statement, Netanyahu sent his condolences for the deaths, saying the soldiers fell “in a campaign to defeat Hamas and to free all of our hostages.”

Health officials at the Nasser Hospital, where victims of the Israeli strikes were taken, said one of the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing four people. A separate strike in Khan Younis killed four people, including a mother, father, and their two children, officials said.

In central Gaza, Israeli strikes hit a group of people, killing 10 people and injuring 72 others, according to a statement by Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes, but it blames Hamas for any harm to civilians, saying the fighter group operates out of populated areas.

The fighting has pushed the health care system in Gaza close to collapse. On Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent said the Al-Zaytoun Medical Clinic in Gaza City ceased operations after shelling in the surrounding area. It said the closure would force thousands of civilians to walk long distances to get medical care or obtain vaccinations for children.

Trump has made clear that, following last month’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, he would like to see the 21-month Gaza conflict end soon. Netanyahu’s visit to Washington may give new urgency to the ceasefire proposal.

White House officials are urging both sides to quickly seal an agreement that would bring about a 60-day pause in the fighting, send aid flooding into Gaza and free at least some of the remaining 50 hostages held in the territory, 20 of whom are believed to be living.

A senior Israeli official said that 80-90 per cent of the details had been ironed out and that a final agreement could be days away. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss the sensitive negotiations with the media.

A sticking point has been whether the ceasefire will end the war altogether. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile — something it refuses to do.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organisations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.