LONDON, July 21, 2025 (WAFA) - The UK and 25 international partners issued a joint statement today, Monday, calling on Israel to immediately end the war in the Gaza Strip and to promptly lift restrictions on the flow of aid.
In the joint statement, the signatories declared that they come together with a simple, urgent message: “The war in Gaza must end now.”
They stressed that the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths, adding that the Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability, and deprives Gazans of human dignity.
“We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.”
The signatories described the Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population as unacceptable. “Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
They called on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life-saving work safely and effectively.
The statement further called on all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law. The signatories rejected proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a so-called “humanitarian city,” calling them completely unacceptable. They emphasized that permanent forced displacement constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.
“We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a Palestinian state in two, marking a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermining the two-state solution. Meanwhile, settlement building across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop.”
They said: “We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this.”
Finally, the statement concluded by affirming readiness to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and the entire region.
The statement was signed by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as by the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.
T.R.
