UK, France and 23 other nations condemn Israel over 'inhumane killing' of civilians
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 more than 800 civilians 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."
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.
Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of the war that began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
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 began a new incursion in central Gaza.
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.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing the U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation.
The U.N. has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which the GHF denies.
The countries behind the statement said Israel was denying essential humanitarian assistance and called on the country to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.
They urged Israel to immediately lift restrictions to allow the flow of aid and to enable humanitarian organisations and the United Nations to operate safely and effectively.
They added they were "prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace" for Israelis and Palestinians.
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The Independent
41 minutes ago
- The Independent
Families of Americans slain in the West Bank lose hope for justice
When Sayfollah Musallet of Tampa, Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank two weeks ago, he became the fourth Palestinian-American killed in the occupied territory since the war in Gaza began. No one has been arrested or charged in Musallet's slaying – and if Israel's track record on the other three deaths is any guide, it seems unlikely to happen. Yet Musallet's father and a growing number of U.S. politicians want to flip the script. 'We demand justice,' Kamel Musallet said at his 20-year-old son's funeral earlier this week. 'We demand the U.S. government do something about it.' Still, Musallet and relatives of the other Palestinian- Americans say they doubt anyone will be held accountable, either by Israel or the U.S. They believe the first word in their hyphenated identity undercuts the power of the second. And they say Israel and its law enforcement have made them feel like culprits — by imposing travel bans and, in some cases, detaining and interrogating them. Although the Trump administration has stopped short of promising investigations of its own, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has urged Israel to investigate the circumstances of each American's death. Writing on X on July 15, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he'd asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate the murder" of Musallet and that "there must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act." Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and 28 other Democratic senators have also called for an investigation. In a letter this week to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, they pointed to the 'repeated lack of accountability" after the deaths of Musallet and other Americans killed in the West Bank. Israel's military, police and Shin Bet domestic security agency did not respond to requests for comment about the Palestinian-Americans' deaths. Families have demanded independent investigations American-born teenagers Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Khdour were killed in early 2024 by Israeli fire while driving in the West Bank. In April 2025, 14-year-old Amer Rabee, a New Jersey native, was shot in the head at least nine times by Israeli forces, according to his father, as he stood among a grove of green almond trees in his family's village. In the immediate aftermath of both cases, Israeli authorities said that forces had fired on rock throwers, allegations disputed by the families and by testimony obtained by the AP. Israel pledged to investigate the cases further, but has released no new findings. The teens' families told the AP they sought independent investigations by American authorities, expressing doubts that Israel would investigate in good faith. According to the Israeli watchdog group Yesh Din, killings of Palestinians in the West Bank rarely result in investigations — and when they do, indictments are uncommon. The U.S. Justice Department has jurisdiction to investigate the deaths of its own citizens abroad, but does so after it gets permission from the host government and usually works with the host country's law enforcement. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem declined to say whether the U.S. has launched independent probes into the killings. A spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement that investigations are 'underway' in Israel over the deaths of the four Americans and that its staff is pressing the Israeli authorities to move quickly and transparently. In a statement to AP, the embassy spokesperson said, 'We continue to press for full, transparent, and rapid investigations in each case and understand that they are underway' in Israel adding that consular staff were in regular communication with Israeli authorities. Sen. Van Hollen said that when the U.S deals with Israel it 'either doesn't pursue these cases with the vigor necessary, or we don't get any serious cooperation.' 'And then instead of demanding cooperation and accountability, we sort of stop — and that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to allow American citizens to be killed with impunity," the Maryland Democrat said. Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers accountable Israel says it holds soldiers and settlers to account under the bounds of the law, and that the lack of indictments does not mean a lack of effort. A prominent recent case was the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for broadcaster Al Jazeera killed in the West Bank in 2022. An independent U.S. analysis of the circumstances of her death found that fire from an Israeli soldier was 'likely responsible' for her killing but said it appeared to be an accident. Despite an Israeli military investigation with similar conclusions, no one was ever disciplined. Violence by Israeli forces and settlers has flared in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 950 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Some have been militants killed in fighting with Israel, though the dead have also included stone-throwers and bystanders uninvolved in violence. Instead of justice, restrictions and detentions Rather than a path toward justice, the families of Khdour, Rabee, and Abdel Jabbar say they've faced only challenges since the deaths. Khdour, born in Miami, Florida, was shot and killed in April 2024 while driving in Biddu, a West Bank town near Jerusalem where he lived since age 2. U.S. investigators visited his family after the killing, his family said. Abdel Jabbar was killed while driving down a dirt road close to Al Mazra as-Sharqiya, his village in the northern West Bank. Khdour's cousin, Malek Mansour, the sole witness, told the AP he was questioned by both Israeli and American investigators and repeated his testimony that shots came from a white pickup on Israeli territory. He believes the investigators did not push hard enough to figure out who killed his cousin. 'The matter ended like many of those who were martyred (killed),' said Hanan Khdour, Khdour's mother. Two months after the death, Israeli forces raided the family's home and detained Mohammad's brother, Omar Khdour, 23, also an American citizen. Videos taken by family and shared with the AP show Omar Khdour blindfolded and handcuffed as Israeli soldiers in riot gear lead him out of the building and into a military jeep. He said he was threatened during questioning, held from 4 am to 3 pm, and warned not to pursue the case. 'Here, being American means nothing' Omar Khdour said Israeli soldiers at checkpoints have prevented him from leaving the West Bank to visit Israel or Jerusalem. Two other American fathers of Palestinian-Americans killed since Oct. 7, 2023 reported similar restrictions. Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar's father, said he and his wife were blocked from leaving the West Bank for seven months. His son, Amir Abdel Jabbar, 22, remains restricted. The father of Amer Rabee says he and his wife have also been stuck in the West Bank since their son's killing. He showed AP emails from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in which a consular official told him that Israel had imposed a travel ban on him, though it was unclear why. Israeli authorities did not respond to comment on the detentions or travel restrictions. Rabee said that in a land where violence against Palestinians goes unchecked, his family's American passports amounted to nothing more than a blue book. 'We are all American citizens,' Rabee said. 'But here, for us, being American means nothing."
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Scottish isle has shown leadership our leaders sorely lack
I'm referring to the community-owned Isle of Eigg – population, 120 – which has signed up to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. Modelled on the movement which brought down Apartheid South Africa, it seeks to isolate the genocidal state of Israel by, for example, boycotting its goods and divesting from its economy. No more Israeli goods will appear in the local shop, and the residents declare that this is 'part of a continuous commitment to fundraising and solidarity with oppressed peoples.' Eigg is taking the action that Westminster will not. Our leaders have a different approach to the violent depravity and deliberate starvation inflicted by Israel on Gaza: statements which express distress and anger, but mean nothing, while they continue to arm Israel. READ MORE: Keir Starmer defers recognising Palestine amid pressure from 221 MPs and Macron On Friday evening, the UK, France and Germany issued a statement which declared that the 'time has come to end the war in Gaza', while demanding that the civilian population's needs must be met. I bet they're trembling in their jackboots in Israeli military headquarters. Sure, they got away with 21 months of slaughtering plausibly well over 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza alone, indiscriminately wiping out civilian infrastructure and the pillars of civilisation, imposing a wantonly illegal siege while destroying local food production, and subjecting the survivors to torture, kidnapping and rape. But the British, French and German governments have sent yet another really disappointed letter, so the game is up, boys! Let's be candid here. As Israel's entirely manufactured famine ravages Gaza's traumatised survivors, and photographs of children and babies reduced to skin and bone belatedly make it on to front pages, the Western public is increasingly disgusted and angry. Letters such as this are not, in actual fact, aimed at Israel at all. They are intended to deflect scrutiny about the role of Western leaders in manufacturing one of the great crimes of our age. Israeli protesters demonstrating against the genocide Sure, France has finally agreed to recognise an independent Palestinian state – an act which still eludes the Labour Government – but this is hardly the most pressing action. Western governments know exactly what Israel has been doing for nearly two years. Their leaders and officials have insisted on declaring their genocidal intentions with uncompromising honesty, day after day. On Thursday, the Israeli Heritage Minister declared that Israel is: 'racing ahead for [[Gaza]] to be wiped out. Thank God we are wiping out this evil. We are pushing this population that has been educated on Mein Kampf', adding 'All [[Gaza]] will be Jewish.' Not exactly subtle, is it? You may wonder why on earth Israel's rulers would self-incriminate themselves so willingly. Don't they know the world can hear them? Well, alas, they know almost the entire Western media – with exceptions like The National – will suppress these bloodcurdling promises. And they know that Western leaders will take no meaningful action. Western leaders know that the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against the Israeli leadership for war crimes and crimes against humanity. They know that South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice led to devastating rulings and provisional orders. They know that a consensus of genocide scholars and NGOs from Amnesty International to Medicins Sant Frontieres have concluded this is genocide. They are also familiar with the deluge of videos and photographs exposing Israeli atrocities, as well as confessions by Israeli soldiers, such as that they are deliberately shooting at the unarmed civilians they starved. Our government could stop providing Israel with weapons, including components crucial for the functioning of its F-35 death jets. It could impose sweeping sanctions on Israel, as it has had no problem doing in other cases. It could impose a trade embargo on Israel, on the grounds that there is no worse crime than genocide, rather than continuing annual trade worth nearly £6bn. READ MORE: Freedom Flotilla ship 'surrounded by drones' as signal briefly lost It's not just the British government rendering itself actively complicit. Ursula von der Leyen – the president of the European Commission – declared that 'the images from Gaza are unbearable'. But they are clearly entirely bearable, because earlier this month, the EU refused to impose sanctions on Israel, leading Amnesty International to condemn it for a 'cruel and unlawful betrayal' of the Palestinian people. The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner, and Israeli campaigner Ami Dar declared that 'the EU could make Israel open the gates to virtually unlimited aid into Gaza on a day's notice. Not doing so is a choice.' The active decision of Britain and its Western allies to facilitate genocide is exactly that – a choice. The Israeli state knows it has been able to get away with anything – from reducing Gaza to apocalyptic ruin to proposing a concentration camp before the strip is removed of all living Palestinians. Israel understands that its Western allies have domestic pressures, and they must occasionally respond to that anger with statements that are ultimately meaningless. Which brings us back to Eigg. This small island will not end the genocide alone. But all injustices are overwhelmed by collective power, by acts that are big and small. In the here and now, Eigg has shown the leadership that is currently lacking. They will inspire others to take action. Struggles against injustice are often contagious. So while our leaders continue to make themselves actively complicit in the crime of the century, here's to the spirit of Eigg. For generations to come, people will ask – what did you do during Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people? Eigg has a good answer. Make sure you do, too.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Starmer suggests UK will play role in Gaza aid air drops
Sir Keir Starmer has suggested that the UK will play a role in dropping aid into Gaza by air after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to deliver air supplies in the coming days amid mounting international concern about humanitarian conditions in the territory."News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late – but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route," the prime minister wrote in The Keir also said the UK was "urgently accelerating efforts" to evacuate children who need critical medical assistance to the UK for treatment. It comes as he faces growing pressure to recognise a Palestinian state - on Friday, France committed to recognising Palestinian statehood within 220 MPs from nine political parties - more than half of them Labour – signed a joint letter which said such a move would send a "powerful" message and a vital step toward a two-state President Donald Trump suggested French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement "doesn't matter" as he left the US for a visit to an earlier statement after an emergency phone call with President Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Sir Keir said recognising Palestinian statehood would have to be part of a "wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution".On Friday evening, Sir Keir said the government would "pull every lever" to deliver food and life-saving support to Palestinians. "This humanitarian catastrophe must end," he added in a post on X. The UK has been involved in previous efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza – a method aid agencies have cautioned is an inefficient way to deliver supplies. The previous Conservative government struck a deal with Jordan to deliver aid by air in 2024. Tonnes of supplies including medicines, food and fuel were dropped into northern Gaza by parachute from Jordanian Air Force same year the Royal Air Force began conducting air drops directly. The RAF went on to deliver over 100 tonnes of food over the course of 11 flights between March and May, according to the government. Israeli media reported that the United Arab Emirates and Jordan would carry out the latest drops, but a senior Jordanian official told the BBC that its military was yet to receive permission from Israel to do UN has described the move as a "distraction to inaction" by the Israeli food aid programme warned that almost one in three people in Gaza are going days without eating."Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment," the World Food Programme said in a which controls the entry of all supplies into the Palestinian territory, has repeatedly said that there is no siege and blames Hamas for cases of the outbreak of war in Gaza, two children with serious health conditions have been brought to the UK for private medical treatment. The young girls were granted temporary visas, arriving in the UK in May from Egypt with the assistance of Project Pure Hope, a humanitarian healthcare initiative.
