LONDON (AP) — The leaders of Britain, France and Germany demanded Israel allow unrestricted aid into Gaza to end a “humanitarian catastrophe,” after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state.

The joint statement, issued after a calll between Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, called for an an immediate ceasefire and said that “withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable,” though it broke no new diplomatic ground.

The leaders said they “stand ready to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political process that leads to lasting security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region,” but did not say what that action might be.

France’s move exposes European divisions

Macron’s surprise announcement exposed differences among the European allies, known as the E3, over how to ease the worsening humanitarian crisis and end the Israel-Hamas war.

All three support a Palestinian state in principle, but Germany said it has no immediate plans to follow France’s step, which Macron plans to formalize at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Britain has not followed suit either, but Starmer is under mounting pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood, both from opposition lawmakers and from members of his own Labour Party government. Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Tuesday called for an announcement “while there’s still a state of Palestine left to recognize.”

On Friday, 221 of the 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons signed a letter urging Starmer to recognize a Palestinian state.

“Since 1980 we have backed a two-state solution. Such a recognition would give that position substance,” said the letter, signed by legislators from several government and opposition parties.

After the E3 call on Friday, Starmer condemned “the continued captivity of hostages, the starvation and denial of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, the increasing violence from extremist settler groups, and Israel’s disproportionate military escalation in Gaza.”

He said that “recognition of a Palestinian state” must be one of the steps on a pathway to peace.

“I am unequivocal about that. But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.

More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including a dozen in Europe. But France is the first Group of Seven country and the largest European nation to take that step.

Israel and the United States both denounced France’s decision.

Britain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict.

Any such solution appears far off. There had been no substantive Israel-Palestinian negotiations for years even before the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and sparked the current war.

Humanitarian crisis alarms Israel’s allies

The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where hunger is spreading and children have starved to death, has caused alarm even among Israel’s closest allies.

Germany has traditionally been a particularly staunch ally of Israel in Europe, with relations rooted in the history of the Holocaust. It says recognizing a Palestinian state should be “one of the concluding steps” in negotiating a two-state solution and it “does not plan to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term.”

But Berlin, too, has sharpened its tone recently, describing the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza as unacceptable and pushing for greater humanitarian aid, but still appears to favor trying to influence Israeli officials by direct contact.

The German government said in a statement on Friday that it is in a “constant exchange” with the Israeli government and other partners on issues that include a ceasefire in Gaza and the need to drastically improve humanitarian aid. It said it is “prepared to increase the pressure” if there is no progress, but didn’t elaborate on how.

Britain has halted some arms sales to Israel, suspended free trade talks and sanctioned far-right government ministers and extremist settlers, but Starmer is under intense pressure to do more.

Also weighing on Starmer is his desire to maintain good relations with the U.S. administration, which has strongly criticized France’s decision. The British leader is due to meet President Donald Trump in the next few days while the president is in Scotland visiting two golf courses he owns there.

Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at the international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said Macron’s decision to defer finalizing recognition until September “creates some space” for other countries to get on board.

“We know that the U.K. is close, but not there,” he said. “This might encourage Starmer, who we know is not one to rush such a decision. … This might create some momentum, some dynamic, for the U.K.”

___

Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story.

Gazans dying of malnutrition, as UN urges Israel to allow unrestricted aid access

Image source, Reuters

“Hunger is everywhere you look,” an aid worker in Gaza tells the BBC.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 113 people, including 81 children, have died of malnutrition since 7 October 2023.

In the few remaining food markets in Gaza, prices have skyrocketed – UK charity Christian Aid reports that a bag of flour now costs more than £400.

The charity’s consultant in the territory says humanitarian aid provides the main source of food, but it is “very dangerous to try and access”. The UN has said at least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while seeking food since 27 May.

The chief of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, says the organisation has 6,000 trucks’ worth of aid waiting in Egypt and Jordan to enter Gaza. He calls on Israel to allow “unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza”.

Israel has said that 150 food trucks were collected by the UN and aid organisations in Gaza on Wednesday, it also says more than 800 await collection. Aid organisations blame an Israeli “siege” for the mass starvation in Gaza.

Earlier, BBC News and news agencies AFP, AP and Reuters warned that journalists in Gaza are at risk of starvation and urged Israel to allow journalists in and out of the region.

And, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has recalled his team of negotiators in Doha. An Israel-Hamas ceasefire is still yet to materialise as the war continues.

We’re now closing our live coverage. You can keep up to date in our news story.

CAIRO (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.

Netanyahu’s statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the United States, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when.

The teams left Qatar on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas’ latest response to proposals for a deal showed a “lack of desire” to reach a truce. Witkoff said the U.S. will look at “alternative options,” without elaborating.

In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, “Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal.”

“Together with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,” he said. He did not elaborate. Israel’s government didn’t immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week.

Stall in talks comes as hunger worsens

A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as experts warn Gaza is being pushed closer to famine, after months of Israel entirely blocking food or letting in only limited amounts. This month, deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated.

More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he said.

Desperate Palestinians gathered at a charity kitchen in Gaza City on Friday, clutching empty pots waiting for a share of watery lentil soup. Such kitchens distributing cooked meals have been a main source of food for many Palestinians, but the number of meals they produce every day has plummeted to 160,000 from more than a million in April, according to the U.N.

“We’ve been living three months without bread,” said one woman in line, Riham Dwas. “We’re relying on charity kitchens, surviving on a pot of lentils and there are many times when we don’t even have that.”

When she can’t find food, she takes her children to a hospital to be put on saline IV drips for sustenance.

Mourners carry the bodies of strike victims

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, killing at least five people, including an 11-year-old boy, according to hospital officials. Afterwards, dozens of mourners marched carrying the bodies from Shifa Hospital as women nearby screamed and wept.

“Enough!” screamed Taraji Adwan, whose son and grandson were among the dead. She said the strike hit as she was filling up water jugs.

“Stop the war! Our children are dying from starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, lack of food, strikes, and dying from fear and destruction. Enough, Hamas! Enough, Israel! Enough, world!” she said.

The Gaza Health Ministry said around 80 people were killed since Thursday night, mostly in strikes but including nine killed while seeking aid.

Talks have struggled over issue of ending the war

Hamas official Bassem Naim said Friday that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas said that Witkoff’s remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu’s benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.

In a joint statement, Egypt and Qatar also said progress had been made. “It is a natural to pause talks to hold consultations before the resumption of the dialogue once more,” they said.

The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops from positions in Gaza after any ceasefire takes place.

The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.

The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons.

Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.

Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating.

“I thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha,” said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage. “And when I heard that they’re coming back, I ask myself: When will this nightmare end?”

——-

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.