More than two dozen Western countries have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, saying that suffering there had “reached new depths” as Israel’s military expanded its operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah.
After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million people, Israeli allies Britain, France, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and 20 other countries, plus the EU, said in a joint statement that the war “must end now”.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and the free flow of much-needed aid.
Not long after, the head of the United Nations warned that Gazans’ “last lifelines” were collapsing.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the countries’ statement, saying any international pressure should be on Hamas, while US ambassador Mike Huckabee called the joint letter “disgusting”.
Key mediator Egypt, however, endorsed the message.
The plea came as Deir el-Balah came under intense shelling on Monday (local time), after Israel’s military warned of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated.
The military a day earlier had ordered those in the central Gaza area to leave immediately as it was expanding operations, including “in an area where it has not operated before”.
Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.
Deir el-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, told AFP that “during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake”.
He said this was “due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area”.
“We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation in Deir el-Balah and the central camps where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering,” he added.
In their statement, the Western countries also denounced Israel’s aid delivery model in Gaza, saying it was “dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity”.
The UN has recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade.
“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 said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned through his spokesman the “accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions”, noting “the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition”.
In Deir el-Balah, AFP images showed plumes of dark smoke billowing into the sky.
The spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that “we received calls from several families trapped in the Al-Baraka area of Deir el-Balah due to shelling by Israeli tanks”.
The Israeli military did not provide immediate comment when contacted by AFP.
Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once by repeated Israeli evacuation orders.
According to OCHA, the latest order means that 87.8% of the territory is now under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones.
Hamdi Abu Mughseeb, 50, told AFP that he and his family had fled northwards from their tent south of Deir el-Balah at dawn following a night of intense shelling.
“There is no safe place anywhere in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “I don’t know where we can go.”
Mai Elawawda, communications officer in Gaza for the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the situation was “extremely critical”, describing shelling “all around our office, and military vehicles are just 400m away from our colleagues and their families”.
The families of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war said they were “shocked and alarmed” by reports of evacuation orders for parts of Deir el-Balah.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demanded political and military authorities “to clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir el-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk”.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’ attack on Israel, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Civil defence spokesman Bassal reported at least 15 people killed by Israeli forces across Gaza on Monday.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,029 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Hamas’ 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
– Agence France-Presse