UK, France, Canada condemn Israel’s Gaza offensive, displacement threats

22 countries demand Israel restore full aid to Gaza, warning of starvation risk to its population.

The leaders of Britain, France and Canada on Monday condemned Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza, opposed its expanded offensive, and slammed Israeli ministers for threatening the mass displacement of civilians.

“We will not stand by” while the government of Benjamin Netanyahu pursues those actions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a joint statement.

“We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to achieving a two-state solution and are prepared to work with others to this end,” they said.

The statement coincided with a joint demand by 22 countries – including Britain, France and Canada – for Israel to immediately “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza”, noting that the territory’s population “faces starvation”.

Israel has kept Gaza in a total aid blockade since March 2, but announced on Monday it would allow a limited number of supply trucks.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said the limited aid access was because “images of mass starvation” in Gaza could hurt the legitimacy of his country’s war.

The statement by Britain, France and Canada said that Israel’s “denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching international humanitarian law”.

It also slammed “abhorrent language used recently by members of the Israeli government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate”.

The leaders said that “permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law”.

Israel’s military has stepped up an offensive in Gaza as part of its prolonged response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war and resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday at least 3,340 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,486.