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In the statement, the ministers said that they “condemn the most recent Israeli offensive launched in the Strip and the announcement to establish a permanent presence in Gaza City.”<\/p>\n
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain condemned Israel’s planned takeover of Gaza City in a joint statement published on their respective government websites on Friday.<\/p>\n
In the statement, the ministers said that they “condemn the most recent Israeli offensive launched in the Strip and the announcement to establish a permanent presence in Gaza City<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We reiterate that the intensification of military operations will endanger the lives of hostages who cruelly remain in the hands of Hamas and will lead to the intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians, including women, children, and elderly people.”<\/p>\n The joint statement continued to describe the IDF’s planned operations in the Palestinian city as “opening a new phase of uncertainty and intolerable suffering for both sides.” The ministers urged the Israeli government to halt its planned operations and reconsider.<\/p>\n The ministers then referenced the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which declared there is a famine in the Strip, stating that it’s imperative that UN agencies and NGOs operate in the area “to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe.”<\/p>\n