Israel’s actions in Gaza are causing international criticism.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of 25 countries called for an immediate end to the war in the Gaza Strip and simultaneously criticized Israel's handling of humanitarian aid for the sealed-off territory. "The war in Gaza must end now," the statement reads. "Further bloodshed serves no purpose." The hostages still being held in Gaza must be released immediately. The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed the statement as "out of touch with reality."

The statement would send a "wrong signal" to the Islamist Hamas, it said. The terrorist organization started the war and is "solely" responsible for the fact that, despite ongoing talks, there has not yet been a ceasefire and hostage release, the Foreign Ministry said.

The declaration was signed by, among others, the foreign ministers of Italy, France, Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Canada, as well as the EU Commissioner for Gender Equality and Crisis Management. Germany is not among the signatories.

Meanwhile, according to eyewitnesses, the Israeli military advanced with ground troops for the first time into the Deir al-Balah area in the central Gaza Strip. Soldiers took control of buildings in the southwest of the city and positioned snipers on the roofs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Israeli army also stormed warehouses and other UN facilities during their advance.

"The military entered the facilities and forced women and children (of WHO staff) to flee on foot to Al-Mawasi amidst fighting," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus complained on X. Deir al-Balah also houses the UN agency's central warehouse for the Gaza Strip. This warehouse was reportedly damaged on Sunday.

The WHO chief added that the UN aid agency's other camps are also located in the combat zone defined by Israel and are therefore no longer operating. "This limits our ability to operate in Gaza and brings the health system in Gaza closer to collapse." The Israeli military did not initially comment on the incident.

The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is responsible for food distribution in large parts of the Gaza Strip. Israel claims to have introduced the new distribution mechanism to prevent Hamas from diverting aid. There are repeated reports of fatal incidents near GHF distribution points. The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA), Phillipe Lazarrini, described the foundation's distribution centers as "sadistic death traps."

"Snipers open fire indiscriminately on crowds, as if they have a license to kill. A massive manhunt, with total impunity," he wrote on X. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: "Over the weekend, Gaza saw further mass shootings and killings of people seeking UN assistance for their families – a cruel and inhumane act that I condemn in the strongest possible terms."

The US- and Israel-backed GHF has repeatedly dismissed such reports as false. Before Israel introduced the new distribution mechanism, the UN operated around 400 distribution centers for the approximately two million Palestinians. These remain barely functioning because Israel virtually prohibits their deliveries. "Humanitarian aid is not a job for mercenaries," Lazzarini wrote, alluding to the fact that the GHF distribution centers are guarded by private American security firms.

The foreign ministers of the 25 states also criticized Israel's handling of humanitarian aid in their statement: "The Israeli government's model for providing humanitarian aid is dangerous, fuels instability, and deprives the people of the Gaza Strip of their human dignity," the letter states. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) expressed his concerns about the "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in Gaza on X. He said he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart by phone. "We urgently call on Israel to implement the agreements with the EU to facilitate humanitarian aid."

Previously, the Israeli army had ordered residents of several neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah to move southwest to Al-Mawasi. Israel defines the tent settlement as a safe haven for civilians. However, there have been Israeli attacks there in the past, resulting in many deaths. Israel had previously refrained from military action in Deir al-Balah because it suspected that hostages kidnapped by the Islamist Hamas were being held there.

With the evacuation order for Deir al-Balah, according to the UN Office for International Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 87.8 percent of the Gaza Strip is now under evacuation orders or within Israel's military exclusion zone. The population is now crammed into 12 percent of the Gaza Strip. The coastal area on the Mediterranean Sea is roughly the size of Munich.