In a powerful and unprecedented show of diplomatic unity, twenty-eight nations, including key allies of both the United States and Israel, have issued a scathing joint statement condemning Israel for the “inhumane killing” of Palestinian civilians seeking desperately needed humanitarian aid in Gaza. The communique, released today, Monday, July 21, 2025, marks a significant escalation in international criticism and demands an immediate end to the conflict.
The foreign ministers of countries including the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Australia, Canada, Italy, and a host of European nations jointly declared that the war in Gaza “must end now.” Their statement specifically condemned “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 described as “horrifying” the recent deaths of over 800 Palestinians who were killed while seeking aid, citing figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry and the U.N. human rights office.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the statement read, adding that “the Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.” The nations further asserted that “The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
This collective condemnation follows a series of mass casualty events near aid distribution sites in Gaza, most recently on Sunday, July 20, 2025, when the Gaza civil defense agency reported Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians attempting to collect humanitarian aid, killing 93 people and wounding dozens more. The UN’s World Food Programme also confirmed that its 25-truck convoy encountered “massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire” near Gaza City.
The joint statement also reiterated calls for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas, emphasizing that “a negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.” It also urged Israel to “immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life saving work safely and effectively.”
Israel swiftly rejected the joint statement, with its Foreign Ministry asserting that it “is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.” A spokesperson added that “all statements and all claims should be directed at the only party responsible for the lack of a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire: Hamas, which started this war and is prolonging it.”
The international community’s sharpening language reflects growing frustration over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the population of more than 2 million Palestinians faces catastrophic hunger and widespread displacement. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, just yesterday, expressed his own alarm at the “accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions” and “strongly condemned the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food.”
As the conflict stretches into its ninth month since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas, the mounting civilian death toll and the crisis in aid delivery are putting immense pressure on Israel from even its closest allies. The unprecedented joint condemnation from so many nations underscores the deepening global concern and demands for a definitive shift in the conduct of the war.