Western diplomatic chiefs, EU Commissioner Lahbib condemn Israel’s treatment of Gaza civilians

The foreign ministers of 28 nations and the EU’s humanitarian aid commissioner condemned Israel on Monday for what they termed “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children.”

The ministers from 20 EU member countries, their counterparts from the U.K., Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Hadja Lahbib said in a joint statement that it is “horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while … seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.”

In response, Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs said it “rejects the joint statement published by a group of countries, as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.” Referring to the ceasefire proposal championed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Israel said: “At these sensitive moments in the ongoing negotiations, it is better to avoid statements of this kind.”

The foreign ministers’ statement came after over 100 people seeking aid from distribution sites and U.N. food trucks were reported killed by Israeli gunfire over the weekend, and as Israel on Monday announced a new offensive in central Gaza.

In a post on social media, Israel’s foreign ministry said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had “fired warning shots in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them” on Sunday, and that “the number of casualties reported does not align with the information held by the IDF.”

It blamed Hamas militants for “seek[ing] to create friction” and said “the IDF views the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as a matter of utmost importance, and works to enable and facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community.”

But that claim was refuted in the statement signed by Lahbib and the foreign ministers of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., Norway, Japan, Iceland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the statement said. “The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable” and Israel “must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”

The statement was notably not signed by EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. Washington and Berlin have steadfastly supported Israel throughout its 22-month war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

Wadephul, however, wrote on X Monday that he had communicated to his Israeli counterpart his “deepest concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation” and urged Israel to “urgently … implement the agreements with the EU to facilitate humanitarian aid.”