Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney have warned that the human suffering in Gaza is “intolerable” and said that Israel is at risk of breaching international law.
In a joint statement on Monday, the leaders of Britain, France and Canada told Israel that it faced sanctions and said the announcement that a basic quantity of food would enter Gaza was “wholly inadequate”.
They called on Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to stop military operations and immediately allow humanitarian aid into the region.
Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, criticised Israel’s easing of humanitarian aid access on Tuesday. “It is totally insufficient … Immediate and massive aid is needed,” Barrot told France Inter radio.
On Monday, nine aid lorries entered Gaza, providing some relief at the end of a ten-week Israeli blockade. The United Nations described the delivery of humanitarian aid as a “drop in the ocean”. Some 600 trucks a day had entered during a ceasefire earlier this year.
In their statement, Starmer, Macron and Carney said: “We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. Yesterday’s announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza is wholly inadequate.
“We call on the Israeli government to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. This must include engaging with the UN to ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles.”
The three nations also said that the Israeli government is at risk of “breaching international humanitarian law” by forcing the permanent displacement of Palestinians and condemned the “abhorrent” language used by Netanyahu’s ministers.
The funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al-Balah
RAMADAN ABED/REUTERS
Earlier this month, Israel Katz, the defence minister, said that blocking aid was “one of the main pressure levers” on Hamas. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, said that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed” and Palestinians would “leave in great numbers to third countries”.
The three leaders threatened to take “further concrete actions” if Netanyahu continued to escalate military action or refused to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. This could include targeted sanctions.
In the past, Starmer has suggested that Britain could sanction two far-right officials in the Israeli government, namely Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, over “abhorrent remarks”.
On Monday, Smotrich said Israel was “destroying everything left in the Gaza Strip”, while Ben-Gvir called the decision to end the blockade “a grave mistake”.
• Israel vows to take control of Gaza before ‘unprecedented attack’
Starmer, Macron and Carney also called for the release of the remaining hostages which have been held by Hamas since the attacks on October 7, but did deem Israel’s most recent military expansion as “wholly disproportionate”.
Israel resumed military operations in March after a temporary ceasefire that saw Hamas release dozens of hostages. Hamas refused to release more, insisting that Israel stick to a plan agreed in December to start withdrawing its troops, while Israel and the US demanded an extension without ending the war.
The US is pressuring both sides to accept a compromise in talks mediated by Qatar. President Trump had pledged to at least bring more aid into Gaza during a tour of the Arab Gulf states last week.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, has said that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed”
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Qatar warned on Tuesday that Israeli military action was undermining any chance of a fresh truce, as it mediates talks in Doha.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, the Qatari prime minister, said: “This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace.”
He added that “deep differences” between Israel and Hamas have frustrated the negotiations.
“One party is looking for a partial deal that might … lead to a comprehensive deal, and the other party is looking just for a one-off deal … and to end the war and to get all the hostages out…we couldn’t bridge this fundamental gap,” he said in a speech at an economic forum in Doha.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 60 people across the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials.
Two strikes in northern Gaza hit a family home and a school-turned-shelter, killing at least 22 people, more than half of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
A strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed 13 people, and another in the nearby built-up Nuseirat refugee camp killed 15, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Two strikes in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed ten people, according to Nasser Hospital.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 53,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the initial cross-border attack by Hamas in 2023, including 3,000 people since March.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
• Leaked map shows Israeli proposal to force Gazans into strips of land
Last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, among others, accusing him of using starvation as a weapon of war. The charge has been vehemently denied by the Israeli leader.
On Tuesday, Hungary’s parliament approved a bill to quit the ICC, which Viktor Orban’s government said has become “political”. Orban announced the move last month, shortly after Netanyahu arrived in Hungary in defiance of the arrest warrant.
“Israel suffered a heinous attack on October 7,” Starmer, Carney and Macron said. “We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate.”
They backed efforts led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to cement an immediate ceasefire. Hamas still holds 58 hostages in Gaza.
They said: “These negotiations need to succeed, and we must all work towards the implementation of a two-state solution, which is the only way to bring long-lasting peace and security that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve, and ensure long-term stability in the region.”