IDF launches huge new Gaza air raids and ground operation - as UK joins dozens of other nations demanding Israel end war and condemning 'inhumane killing'
As Foreign Secretary David Lammy, along with the foreign ministers of dozens of other western nations, described the suffering of civilians in Gaza as having 'reached new depths', witnesses in Deir al-Balah last night said they saw massive airstrikes.
Local medics reported that three people were killed and dozens more were injured as Israeli tanks shelled homes and mosques in the area, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors.
The World Heath Organisation, meanwhile, accused the IDF of attacking its staff residence and main warehouse.
It is the first time the IDF has pushed into Deir al-Balah, the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war, leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers of hostages there.
The main group representing hostages' families said it was 'shocked and alarmed' by the incursion and demanded answers from Israeli leaders.
Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in ongoing ceasefire talks.
The UN food agency, meanwhile, accused Israeli forces of firing on a crowd of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid over the weekend.
The Gaza Health Ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on aid-seekers in the war that has driven the territory to the brink of famine.
In the latest sign of international frustration, the United Kingdom, France and 23 other Western-aligned countries issued a statement saying 'the war in Gaza must end now.'
They harshly criticized Israel's restrictions on humanitarian aid and called for the release of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza.
The countries in a joint statement condemned what they called the 'drip feeding of aid' to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was 'horrifying' that had been killed while seeking aid.
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations.
'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the countries' foreign ministers said in a joint statement. 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.'
The call by about 20 European countries, as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for an end to the war in Gaza and the delivery of aid comes from many countries which are allied with Israel and its most important backer, the United States.
Among those calling for an end to the war are four out of five countries in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the U.S.
Israel's foreign ministry said the statement was 'disconnected from reality' and it would send the wrong message to Hamas.
'The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas's role and responsibility for the situation,' the Israeli statement said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar later said he spoke with his British counterpart David Lammy on Monday on regional issues, including Gaza. He blamed Hamas 'for the suffering of the population and the continuation of the war'.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the statement 'disgusting' and said blaming Israel was 'irrational' because Hamas rejects every proposal to end the war.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with the latest deaths reported on Monday as Israel in central Gaza.
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