Senior European Union officials on Tuesday condemned the killing of civilians seeking humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

They warned Israel to uphold its commitments on aid access and compliance with international law.

“The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on social media platform X.

She added that she had spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to “recall our understanding on aid flow” and demand that Israeli forces stop killing people at distribution points.

“All options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges,” she added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed the concerns, calling the images from Gaza unbearable and emphasising that civilians cannot be targets.

“The EU reiterates its call for the free, safe and swift flow of humanitarian aid,” Ms von der Leyen posted on X.

“And for the full respect of international and humanitarian law, civilians in Gaza have suffered too much, for too long. It must stop now. Israel must deliver on its pledges.”

Their remarks come amid growing outrage over a series of deadly incidents in Gaza.

Health authorities in the Gaza Strip said at least 85 people were killed on Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire on civilians gathering for aid.

Another six were reported dead in a separate shooting near an aid point in Rafah.

(Xinhua/NAN)

Israel has blocked most aid from entering Gaza since March, with the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation taking over its distribution since May. At least 1,000 people have been killed seeking food from GHF and aid convoys since then, the U.N. Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) estimates. Israel has previously disputed the number of casualties.

“The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible,” EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, noting she spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to “make clear the [Israel Defense Forces] must stop killing people at distribution points.”

Kallas and von der Leyen’s statements come as foreign ministers across Europe and the Commonwealth area accused Israel of denying assistance to the civilian population in Gaza in a joint statement on Monday. Twenty EU countries, alongside the U.K., Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Hadja Lahbib signed on to the statement.

In a post on X, Sa’ar said the countries behind the statement had made a “mistake … part of them out of good intentions and part of them out of an obsession against Israel.” Sa’ar added he had spoken to Kallas and told her Hamas was responsible for “deliberately creating friction between the civilian population, the aid distribution centers and the IDF.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also demanded on Tuesday that Israel let journalists into Gaza, a day after the journalists’ association at newswire Agence France-Presse said their colleagues in Gaza were starving to death.

Health crisis spirals

“This is not hunger, this is not malnutrition. This is forced starvation, this is torture,” Saira Hussain, a British-Australian doctor currently working in Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, said.

Israel ‘must stop killing people at distribution points,’ says Kaja Kallas

ATHENS — The EU foreign policy chief on Tuesday described the killing of civilians seeking aid in the Gaza Strip as “indefensible.”

Kaja Kallas wrote on X that she held a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, noting that she “made clear that IDF (Israeli army) must stop killing people at distribution points.”

“All options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges,” she added.

The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible.

I spoke again with @gideonsaar to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that IDF must stop killing people at distribution points.

All options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges — Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) July 22, 2025

Similarly, EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen said on X: “The images from Gaza are unbearable.”

Reiterating her call to Israel for the safe and swift flow of humanitarian aid and full respect of international and humanitarian law, she said, “Civilians in Gaza have suffered too much, for too long. It must stop now. Israel must deliver on its pledges.”

Civilians cannot be targets. Never.

The images from Gaza are unbearable.

The EU reiterates its call for the free, safe and swift flow of humanitarian aid.

And for the full respect of international and humanitarian law.

Civilians in Gaza have suffered too much, for too long.… https://t.co/VhaKxUXka0 — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 22, 2025

Gaza is facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in its history. The spread of hunger has accelerated since March 2, when Israel shut all border crossings, halting the entry of food, fuel and medical aid.

Severe malnutrition symptoms have become widespread, particularly among children and chronically ill patients.

Israel has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The Relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave, almost collapsed the health system and created famine-like conditions.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.​​​​​​​ — AA

Jordan’s king, Canada’s PM discuss Syria, Gaza and aid

LONDON: King Abdullah of Jordan met with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday in Ottawa for talks which included the situation in Syria and Gaza.

Carney, who met with King Abdullah for the first time since taking office in March, also announced that Canada would allocate $28.4 million to support Jordan.

The funding is for education, health and job creation, in addition to bolstering Jordan’s defense and security to combat terrorism and cross-border crime, the Petra news agency reported.

King Abdullah acknowledged Canada’s support for Jordan’s development, emphasizing the need to enhance investment and collaboration in trade, education, and healthcare.

He also emphasized Canada’s crucial role as a partner with Jordan in fostering peace and stability in the Middle East, and praised the country’s support for humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

The leaders called on Israel to ends its war on Gaza and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to civilians in the territory.

King Abdullah also called for end to the violence of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank; and for the international community to support the creation of a Palestinian state.

In addition, he reaffirmed Jordan’s support for Syria’s security, stability, and territorial integrity.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Alaa Batayneh, Jordan’s Ambassador to Canada Sabah Al-Rafie, and Canadian officials attended the meeting.

LONDON: The UN World Food Programme warned on Monday that Gaza is teetering on the brink of full-scale famine, with nearly 100,000 women and children suffering from severe acute malnutrition amid rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Speaking to reporters at a UN briefing, senior WFP official Ross Smith said that hunger is worsening, and humanitarian access has been severely restricted.

“A quarter of the population are facing famine-like conditions,” he said. “People are dying from lack of assistance every day.”

Smith stressed that food and humanitarian aid are the only viable solutions at present, but movement inside Gaza remains perilous and limited. “The markets are non-functional. Nothing is really moving inside Gaza for us,” he said, outlining the “minimum operating conditions” required to respond effectively. These include functioning border crossings, reduced wait times and security approvals, and the ability to transport goods freely and safely.

He said the WFP requires a minimum of 100 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily to meet urgent needs. “Until we have that scale of assistance, it’s going to be really, really difficult to control the situation on the ground.”

Smith called for all armed actors to stay away from aid convoys and distribution points.

Over the weekend scores of people were killed when a crowd surged around a WFP food convoy near a Gaza checkpoint.

“We cannot independently verify the death toll,” Smith said, noting WFP staff on the ground reported at least 40 fatalities, though other reports suggest as many as 80. “One death is too many. This is far, far too many.”

He denied any indication the incident was organized by militant groups, instead pointing to growing desperation among civilians. “These were people putting their lives on the line, trying to get something off a truck,” he said.

Fuel shortages and logistical hurdles continue to hamper aid distribution. Since mid-May, the WFP has managed to deliver less than 10 percent of the required food assistance. Smith said the agency has enough supplies pre-positioned outside Gaza to support the entire population for two months — provided a ceasefire is in place and aid routes are secured.

“We have the capacity, but we need a ceasefire,” he added.

The UN does not use armed escorts for its convoys and has no operational relationship with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Smith confirmed. While the GHF has pushed for collaboration, no agreements are currently in place.

Smith warned that time is running out for thousands at risk of starvation. “Severe acute malnutrition, particularly in children, carries a very high mortality risk. They need treatment immediately,” he said.

The UN continues to press for adherence to existing humanitarian agreements and call for a ceasefire to prevent further tragedy. “Yesterday’s incident is one of the greatest tragedies we’ve seen in Gaza,” Smith said. “It was completely avoidable.”

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that a new mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military is further eroding Gaza’s already collapsing humanitarian infrastructure.

The directive, covering four neighborhoods in Deir Al-Balah, has forced thousands to flee, with an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 people in the affected area at the time of the order, including 30,000 already displaced sheltering at 57 sites.

UN staff remain stationed at dozens of locations within the area, and OCHA has stressed that all civilian and humanitarian sites must be protected regardless of military operations.

The order encompasses critical infrastructure, including four health clinics, humanitarian warehouses, and essential water systems such as Gaza’s Southern Desalination Plant. OCHA warned that any damage to these facilities could have life-threatening consequences for civilians.

Nearly 88 percent of the Gaza Strip now falls under displacement orders or Israeli-controlled zones, effectively confining 2.1 million people to just 12 percent of the territory.

By cutting across Deir Al-Balah to the Mediterranean, the order further fragments the enclave, choking off humanitarian access.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed serious concern over the latest Israeli evacuation order. He said UN staff remain in the area, despite two UN guesthouses being hit in recent days, even after their coordinates had been shared with the relevant parties.

“These sites must be protected,” Guterres said, calling once again for the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel, and infrastructure. He reiterated his urgent appeal for unimpeded delivery of aid and repeated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Guterres condemned growing reports of malnutrition among children and adults, and denounced the continued violence — including against people trying to access food.

“Civilians must never be targeted,” Guterres said, adding that Israel is obligated under international law to facilitate humanitarian relief. He stressed that the population remains gravely undersupplied with essentials such as food, water, and medicine.