LONDON/BRUSSELS, Aug 12 — The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached "unimaginable levels", said the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia, and several of their European allies on Tuesday, calling on Israel to allow unrestricted aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
"Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation.
"We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international non-governmental organisations aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.
"All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment," the foreign ministers of 24 countries said in a joint statement.
Israel has denied responsibility for the spread of hunger in Gaza, accusing Hamas militants of stealing aid shipments, which Hamas denies.
However, late last month, in response to a rising international uproar, Israel announced steps to let more aid into the enclave, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
Nonetheless, Western capitals say much more aid is needed.
The foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK signed the statement.
The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and two other members of the European Commission also signed the statement.
Some EU member countries, including Germany and Hungary, did not sign it.
