ISTANBUL, Aug 6 (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and several other countries on Thursday strongly condemned what they described as ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip, including attacks on healthcare facilities, medical infrastructure and civilian infrastructure.
In a joint statement also signed by the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, they condemned the continued loss of civilian lives in Gaza.
Israel’s prime minister’s office said the statement “distorts reality” by accusing Israel of jeopardising U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan while failing to address what it said were continuing violations by Hamas.
“The plan’s first requirement is a demilitarized, terror-free Gaza, yet Hamas continues to rearm, recruit terrorists, rebuild tunnels, and prepare for future attacks,” Doron Spielman, international spokesman for the prime minister’s office, said in a statement.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Gaza since agreeing last October to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire, killing 1,200 Palestinians in the past nine months. Palestinian health officials say many of those killed were women and children. Hamas rarely announces its casualties.
Last week, Trump said that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to end the war, which both Israel and Hamas agreed to last year and which started with the ceasefire.
Trump said that Hamas, which ruled Gaza for nearly two decades before carrying out the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, had agreed to lay down its weapons.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Enas Alashray; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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