Signatories, including foreign ministers in countries like Australia, Norway and Japan, said that “the suffering of civilians have reached new heights”.
“The Israeli government’s help model is dangerous, feeds instability and deprives Gazani of human dignity,” said the declaration.
“The refusal of the Israeli government to provide essential humanitarian aid to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must respect the obligations incumbent upon it under international humanitarian law, ”add the signatories.
They also said that he was “appalling that more than 800 Palestinian and Palestinians were killed while they were looking for help” and condemned the “aid with droppings and the inhuman massacre of civilians, whose children, who try to support their most elementary needs in water and food”.
This assessment is based on figures published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ministry of Health led by Hamas in Gaza.
The ministers also condemned Hamas to maintain the ownership of hostages captured in Israel during the attack on October 7, 2023 and called for their immediate release.
The civil defense of the Gaza Strip and the witnesses reported on Monday artillery fire on Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Palestinian territory, the day after an Israeli call to evacuate the area. (Videoelephant/France24)
The two -state solution compromised
Among the signatories were the foreign ministers of around twenty European countries, as well as those of Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand, and the European Commissioner responsible for equality, preparation and management of crises.
The proposals of Israeli officials aimed at concentrating the Palestinians of Gaza in a single city, were also sentenced in the joint declaration.
“Permanent forced displacement constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law,” said the declaration.
The Declaration also aims at the project of expansion of the colonies of settlement of the Israeli government in the Palestinian territories which it occupies, in particular within the framework of its desire to separate the West Bank of East Jerusalem.
This “would seriously compromise the solution to two states”, insists the declaration, stressing an increase in the construction of colonies that Canada deems illegal, at a time when “the violence of the colonists against the Palestinian and Palestinians exploded”.
Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Israel rejected the joint declaration, calling it “disconnected from reality” and claiming that it “sends a wrong message to Hamas”.
“This declaration fails to concentrate pressure on Hamas and does not recognize its role or its responsibility in the situation. Hamas is solely responsible for the continuation of the war and the sufferings of both camps, “said Mr. Marmorstein in a press release on social networks.
“In these sensitive moments of the negotiations in progress, it is better to avoid these kinds of statements.”
The signatories of the joint declaration called for an immediate cease-fire, adding that they were ready to act to support a political path to peace in the region.
But, according to the Israeli spokesman, Hamas is the sole responsibility of the lack of progress concerning a cease-fire and the release of the hostages. He accused Hamas of having “deliberately” increased tensions and damage caused to civilians in humanitarian aid posts.
Help at the heart of negotiations
The ministers signatory to the declaration call on the Israeli government to remove all restrictions on the delivery of aid and to “allow the UN and humanitarian NGOs” to carry out their work in a safe and efficient manner.
Most of the food authorized by Israel to enter Gaza is intended for the Gaza humanitarian foundation, an American organization supported by Israel. Witnesses and health officials say that, since the group’s start to the late May operations, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire while they were trying to reach the aid distribution sites.
Israel blocked aid for three months before installing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, closing hundreds of sites managed by international agencies in Gaza.
Israel claims to have had to take this measure to prevent help from reaching Hamas, which sold vital supplies and food to remunerate its combatants. But the United Nations agencies claim that this has not been the case to a large extent.
During a visit Monday on the hill of the Parliament, King Abdallah II of Jordan thanked Prime Minister Mark Carney for his support for the joint declaration.
“The voice of Canada is extremely important in the face of the challenges we face,” said the king, adding that Ottawa can help “bring stability and common sense in our region of the world”.
Carney said Canada and other countries “categorically rejected any attempt to separate or modify the demographic or territorial composition” from occupied Palestinian territories.
If the United States, Qatar and Egypt have not signed the letter, the ministers who signed it claim to support the efforts of these three countries to negotiate a cease-fire.
Besides the United States, Germany is the only other G7 country not to have approved the declaration.
– with information from the Associated Press
