LONDON: The foreign ministers of 10 nations on Tuesday expressed &quot;serious concerns&quot; about a &quot;renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation&quot; in Gaza, saying the situation was &quot;catastrophic&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;As winter draws in, civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping,&quot; the ministers of Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland said in a joint statement released by the UK&#39;s Foreign Office.&nbsp;&quot;1.3 million people still require urgent shelter support. More than half of health facilities are only partially functional and face shortages of essential medical equipment and supplies. The total collapse of sanitation infrastructure has left 740,000 people vulnerable to toxic flooding,&quot; the statement added.&nbsp;The ministers said they welcomed the progress that had been made to end the bloodshed in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages.&nbsp;&quot;However, we will not lose focus on the plight of civilians in Gaza,&quot; they said, calling on the government of Israel to take a string of &quot;urgent and essential&quot; steps.&nbsp;These included ensuring that international NGOs could operate in Gaza in a &quot;sustained and predictable&quot; way.&nbsp;&quot;As 31 December approaches, many established international NGO partners are at risk of being deregistered because of the government of Israel&rsquo;s restrictive new requirements,&quot; the statement said.&nbsp;It also called for the UN and its partners to be able to continue their work in Gaza and for the lifting of &quot;unreasonable restrictions on imports considered to have a dual use&quot;.&nbsp;This included medical and shelter equipment.&nbsp;The foreign ministers also called for the opening of crossings to boost the flows of humanitarian aid into Gaza.&nbsp;While welcoming the partial opening of the Allenby crossing, they said other corridors for moving goods remained closed or severely restricted for humanitarian aid, including the Rafah crossing.&nbsp;&quot;Bureaucratic customs processes and extensive screenings are causing delays, while commercial cargo is being allowed in more freely,&quot; the statement said.&nbsp;&quot;The target of 4,200 trucks per week, including an allocation of 250 UN trucks per day, should be a floor, not a ceiling. These targets should be lifted so we can be sure the vital supplies are getting in at the vast scale needed,&quot; it added.

Middle East

Foreign ministers say Gaza’s humanitarian situation is catastrophic as winter arrives, with severe shortages of shelter, healthcare, and sanitation; urge Israel to allow NGOs and the UN to work freely, open crossings, and increase aid deliveries.

10 countries warn of 'catastrophic' Gaza situation

GENEVA: Palestinian Authority representatives are touring Europe to try to convince countries that have not yet recognized a Palestinian state to get on board, a presidential envoy said during a visit to Switzerland on Wednesday.&nbsp;Former Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, currently serving as special envoy for President Mahmud Abbas, told reporters that he had met with Switzerland&#39;s top diplomat to push Bern to join &quot;the countries who recognize Palestine&quot;.&nbsp;He said he would be travelling on to the Netherlands and Austria with the same message.&nbsp;&quot;Another delegation will be going to the Baltic states, and our president hopefully will visit Italy and Germany,&quot; he told the briefing, organized by the UN correspondents&rsquo; association ACANU.&nbsp;A majority of European nations now recognize a Palestinian state, following official declarations last month by Britain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and others against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.&nbsp;A number of non-European states, like Australia and Canada have also recently joined their ranks, in moves slammed by Israel.&nbsp;&quot;There are 34 countries that did not yet recognize Palestine,&quot; Shtayyeh said.&nbsp;&quot;We are simply in contact with these countries, trying to urge them to be part of the countries who recognize Palestine, not part of the countries who did not recognize Palestine.&quot;&nbsp;In Switzerland, he said he had met with Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.&nbsp;&quot;My message to the Swiss leadership is very simple: This is the country that &lsquo;hosts&rsquo; UN agencies, and this is the depository for Geneva Conventions,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;I did urge the Swiss leadership to walk the walk and recognize Palestine as a state similar to the countries that have done so.&quot;&nbsp;While there are forces in Switzerland pushing for recognition, such a move could take time.&nbsp;A coalition of civil society, NGOs and politicians began this week gathering signatures to push through a popular vote on the issue, under Switzerland&#39;s famous direct democratic system.&nbsp;If they manage to gather 100,000 signatures over the next 18 months, the Swiss will be called to vote on whether they want recognition of &quot;Palestine as a sovereign and independent state&quot; to be enshrined in the Swiss constitution.

Palestinian envoy Mohammad Shtayyeh is urging European nations, including Switzerland, to recognize Palestine’s statehood amid growing global support for Palestinian independence.

Articles tagged with "Switzerland"

10 countries warn of 'catastrophic' Gaza situation

Palestinians touring Europe to boost state recognition