25 nations demand Gaza ceasefire: Israeli war must end now

Shafaq News – Brussels/Gaza (Updated at 7:14 p.m.)

Twenty-five foreign ministers and a senior EU official, in a rare joint statement on Monday, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemning the escalating humanitarian crisis.

“The war in Gaza must end now,” read the declaration, endorsed by top diplomats from 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.

The ministers decried the rising civilian death toll and the collapse of essential services in Gaza, warning that Israel’s restricted aid flow and lethal attacks on civilians seeking food and water “fuel instability and strip Gazans of their dignity.”

Citing over 800 Palestinian deaths while attempting to access aid, the group condemned Israel’s blockade as a clear breach of international law, urging immediate, unrestricted access for UN agencies and humanitarian organizations.

They rejected proposals to transfer civilians into so-called “humanitarian cities,” denouncing such plans as both unlawful and inhumane, while warning that ongoing settlement expansion, including the E1 project, would destroy the viability of a future Palestinian state and dismantle the possibility of a two-state solution.

Calling for the unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas since October 7, 2023, the ministers backed mediation by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, emphasizing that only a negotiated ceasefire can end the hostages’ ordeal and unlock a political resolution.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the joint declaration as “detached from reality” and accused it of emboldening Hamas, while Hamas welcomed the statement as a long-overdue acknowledgment of the blockade’s illegality and the need for unimpeded humanitarian relief.

Hamas called the condemnation of over 800 aid-related deaths a clear indictment of Israel’s starvation tactics, urging international justice for what it described as a “campaign to degrade and kill civilians.”

Framing the statement as a turning point in global opinion, the group highlighted the starvation deaths of more than 70 children, calling on signatory states to turn words into action by pressuring Israel to halt the assault and open Gaza to aid.