LONDON: Britain and 24 West­ern allies, including Australia, Canada, France and Italy, declared on Monday that the war in Gaza “must end now”, arguing that civilians’ suffering had reached new depths as Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday.

“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,” the grouping added in a joint statement.

“Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this.” The signatories, which also included Japan, several EU countries, Switzerland and New Zealand, added they were “prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire”.

The statement branded the controversial Israeli-supported aid in Gaza as “dangerous” and said it deprives people 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,” the statement said.

In a joint statement, 25 states say denial of essential assistance to people is ‘unacceptable’

“The Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable,” it added, urging Israel to “comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law”.

The statement called for 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 UN said last week that it had recorded 875 people who had been killed in Gaza while trying to get food via the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The 25-nation statement also condemned the continued detention of Israeli prisoners by Hamas, demanding “their immediate and unconditional release” and noting that a negotiated ceasefire “offers the best hope of bringing them home”.

Meanwhile, the signatories said they “strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories” and said an Israeli plan to shift Palestinians into a so-called “humanitarian city” was unacceptable.

“Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law,” they warned.

The statement was also signed by EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib.

Israel sends tanks into Deir al-Balah

Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli military claimed Israeli prisoners may be held.

The area is packed with Palestinians displaced during more than 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order, saying it sought to destroy infrastructure and capabilities of Hamas.

Tank shelling in the area hit houses and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and wounding several others, local medics said.

To the south in Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people, including a husband and wife and their two children in a tent, medics said.

In its daily update, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded by Israeli gunfire and military strikes.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2025