Australia and allies condemn Israel over ‘inhumane’ Gaza aid deaths

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Australia has joined 24 other nations to condemn Israel over the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians seeking aid, calling on it to lift restrictions to food and medical supplies, while urging an immediate end to the conflict.

Signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her counterparts from the UK, France, and Canada, the joint statement published late Monday accused Israel of an “unacceptable” denial of humanitarian aid and warned they were prepared to take action to help bring about a ceasefire.

Penny Wong issued a fresh ceasefire demand alongside counterparts from 24 other countries in a jointly signed statement.

“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,” the statement said.

“We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic need of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.”

The 25 countries are demanding Israel urgently boost the flow of aid and enable the UN and charities “to do their life-saving work safely and effectively” after 85 Palestinians were killed trying to access food in various locations, according to the territory’s health ministry.

After the breakdown of the initial January ceasefire, Israel imposed a humanitarian blockade on the strip in March before overhauling the delivery of aid.

Relatives of Palestinians killed near an aid distribution centre mourn over their bodies in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.

The international community has criticised the replacement of established NGOs with the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. According to the UN Human Rights Council figures published last week, almost 900 people were killed in Gaza while trying to get food; “674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites.”

Earlier on Monday Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah, an area of Gaza which had been largely untouched by the conflict and where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought refuge. The incursion has led to speculation that Hamas is holding large numbers of hostages there.

The statement from the 25 nations also called out soaring settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank, and hit out against the Israeli proposal to build a “humanitarian city” in Gaza, which former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert recently condemned as a “concentration camp”.

“Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law,” the joint statement said.

Palestinians react after carrying the bodies of those killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza.

In a fiery response posted on X, Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the joint statement as “disconnected from reality”, adding that Hamas was ultimately responsible for the scale of destruction and suffering since its October 7, 2023, terror attack killed 1,139 Israelis.

Since then, more than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

“The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognize Hamas’s role and responsibility for the situation. Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides,” the ministry said.

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in ceasefire talks, but there appears to be no breakthrough and it’s not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt.

“Instead of agreeing to a ceasefire, Hamas is busy running a campaign to spread lies about Israel. At the same time, Hamas is deliberately acting to increase friction and harm to civilians who come to receive humanitarian aid,” the foreign ministry said.

The joint international statement reaffirmed the nations’ support for those involved in brokering a ceasefire deal, including the US and Qatar.