Foreign secretary David Lammy has joined other foreign ministers in condemning the Israeli government for depriving Gazans “of human dignity”.
Mr Lammy and his counterparts from 24 other countries, including France, Australia and Canada, along with the European Union’s commissioner for equality, urged the Israeli government to “immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid”.
They called for the war to “end now” and described proposals to move 600,000 Palestinians to a so-called “humanitarian city” in Rafah as “completely unacceptable”.
In a statement shared on Monday afternoon, the politicians said: “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.
“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.”
They said it is “horrifying” that hundreds of Palestinians “have been killed while seeking aid” and that the “Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable”.
Mr Lammy told the Commons later on Monday evening that ignoring calls from the UK and other nations for the war in Gaza to end is “tarnishing greatly the reputation of Israel”.
He said “it is a source of great regret” that the conflict has not been brought to an end, in response to Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller.
He added: “That ignoring of the international community is tarnishing greatly the reputation of Israel.”
“We continue, of course, to look at what further we may need to do as he would expect. But let me tell him, that I wish I could say too that, were we to recognise tomorrow, it would bring this war to an end. I’m afraid, I’m not sure that is the case.”
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 UK.
In the statement, the countries say they “strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the occupied Palestinian territories”.
The foreign ministers reiterated calls for the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas to be released and asked for “all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law”.
They urged the international community to “unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire”.
Earlier in July, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz laid out plans for the “humanitarian city” in Rafah, Gaza’s most southern city, which has been heavily damaged during the war.
He reportedly said that the military would initially move 600,000 Palestinians there, with the aim of eventually transferring the whole population to Rafah.
“Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a ‘humanitarian city’ are completely unacceptable,” the foreign ministers said on Monday.
“Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.”
The signatories also pledged that they would be “prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire”.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said that dozens of people were killed trying to access food aid over the weekend.
