Twenty-five countries, including Britain, France, and several European countries, issued a joint statement on Monday stressing the need to end the war in Gaza "immediately" and the need for Israel to comply with international law.
Foreign ministers from countries including Australia, Canada, and Japan said that "the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels." They condemned "the trickle-down approach to humanitarian aid entering the devastated Strip and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their basic needs of water and food."
The statement described the killing of more than 800 Palestinians seeking aid as "horrific," according to figures released by the Ministry of Health in Gaza and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"The Israeli government's aid model is dangerous, fuels instability, and deprives the people of Gaza of their human dignity," the statement added. "The Israeli government's deprivation of the civilian population of essential humanitarian assistance is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law," the statement added.
Gaza's more than two million residents are experiencing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis and are now heavily dependent on the limited aid allowed into the Strip. Many residents have been displaced multiple times.
Most of the food supplies allowed into Gaza by Israel go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-based contractor supported by Israel. Since the foundation began operations in late May, hundreds of Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers as they made their way to the targeted sites, according to witnesses and health officials.
The signatories to the statement included the foreign ministers of approximately 20 European countries, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness, and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib.
The United States and Germany were notably absent from the list.
The signatories called for an immediate ceasefire, affirming their readiness to take action to support a political process for peace in the region. The statement, issued by many of Israel's Western allies, deepens its isolation 21 months after its war on Gaza, which pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, sparked global protests, and led to an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel rejects criticism of its wartime conduct, saying its forces acted lawfully and blaming Hamas for civilian deaths because militants operate in populated areas. It says it allowed enough food into Gaza to feed the population and accuses Hamas of misappropriating much of it. The United Nations says there is no evidence of widespread diversion of humanitarian aid.
The Israeli war, which experts believe was a war of genocide, resulted in the deaths of more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, most of them women and children. However, the British Lancet group puts the death toll much higher.
Israel and Hamas have engaged in ceasefire talks, but no progress appears to have been made, and it is unclear whether any truce will permanently end the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly emphasized that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in the negotiations.
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The UK, France and 23 other countries say the war in Gaza "must end now."