Starmer says Britain, France, Germany to hold Gaza ‘emergency call' on Friday
'I will hold an emergency call with E3 partners tomorrow, where we will discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace,' he said in a statement Thursday.
'A ceasefire will put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.'
Starmer said the situation in Gaza had 'reached new depths and continues to worsen,' 21 months on from the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that triggered Israel's war on the Palestinian territory.
'The suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible,' Starmer said.
'We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe.'
Israel faces growing international pressure to allow a massive increase in humanitarian aid to the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, where warnings of imminent famine are mounting.
Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks in Qatar aimed at reaching a ceasefire, but they have so fall failed to produce concrete results.

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Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel ‘lying' about famine in Gaza: Geldof
LONDON: Israel is 'lying' about claims there is no famine in Gaza, according to rock musician Bob Geldof. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ The former Boomtown Rats frontman told Sky News that Israel bears responsibility for mass starvation in the enclave, after Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer claimed there was 'no famine caused by Israel' and 'Hamas starves its own people.' In an interview with Sky earlier this week, Mencer said: 'This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.' But Geldof told the 'Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips' show: '(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They're dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers. 'And, while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set-up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front (sic), I would call it, as they dangle it, then they're shot wantonly. 'This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I'm really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.' This week, authorities in Gaza said 127 people have died from malnutrition-related causes since the start of the war in October 2023, 85 of whom were children. Mencer told Sky that aid was entering Gaza and that over 4,400 trucks carrying supplies had entered the enclave. The charity Doctors Without Borders, however, said that around a quarter of children and pregnant women in Gaza are malnourished, accusing Israel of 'deliberate use of starvation as a weapon.' Geldof urged Israelis to protest against the actions of their government and to take aid into Gaza themselves. 'If the newsfeeds and social feeds weren't so censored in Israel, I imagine that the Israeli people would not permit what has been done in their name,' he said. 'Get in your cars, stock your cars full of food and drive through that border and let your own army stop you.' Geldof also said it was right that the UK should recognize a Palestinian state, but criticized the government for not doing enough to stop the conflict. 'This is a distraction thing about 'let's recognize the state' — absolutely, it should have been done ages ago, but it's not going to make any material difference.' An Israeli security official told Sky: 'Despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip. 'Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organizations. 'The delays in collection by the UN and international organizations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza's residents.' The Israeli military told Sky: 'The IDF allows the American civilian organization (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip. 'Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned. 'The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.'


Saudi Gazette
4 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Israel intercepts Gaza aid ship, detains 21 activists and seizes humanitarian cargo
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Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Police hurt and dozens arrested at Berlin pro-Palestinian demonstration
FRANKFURT: Berlin police on Sunday said they arrested 57 people during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the fringes of the city's yearly Pride march a day earlier, adding that 17 police officers sustained to police, about 10,000 demonstrators participated in the rally on Saturday in support of Palestinians, but authorities moved in to disperse the crowd as organizers struggled to restore arrests were related to public order disturbances, including resisting police and throwing bottles or physical altercation, but also the use of anti-Semitic slogans as well as 'symbols of anti-constitutional and terrorist organizations,' police said on social 'Internationalist Queer Pride for Liberation' movement, which on its website says there is 'no queer liberation without anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and anti-Zionist struggle,' called the pro-Palestinian demonstration took place as Berlin's annual Pride parade was being held in another city district, where 64 arrests were also made, for insults, assault and also the alleged use of symbols deemed linked to 'terrorist organizations.'Another demonstration, this one by far-right militants opposed to the Pride march, also took place, with police telling AFP that 20 people there were protests have proliferated in Germany and elsewhere in demonstrations reflect heightened concerns as the Israel-Hamas conflict grinds on, with Israel pursuing a devastating military operation in Gaza following Hamas's October 7, 2023 Hamas attack in Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli campaign has killed 59,733 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run seeking to atone for the Holocaust, has long been one of Israel's most steadfast supporters. But as the civilian toll and plight in Gaza has risen, it has recently sharpened its criticism of its recently said it regards the recognition of a Palestinian state as 'one of the final steps on the path to achieving a two-state solution.'