KUWAIT CITY, July 22, (Agencies): The State of Kuwait reiterated its condemnation and denunciation of the unjust blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip, a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. The statement added that the unjust blockage is a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and disregards relevant international legitimacy resolutions, particularly Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2417, which condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in conflict situations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the State of Kuwait’s condemnation of these grave and brutal crimes, including the killing of food seekers. The statement stressed the need for the international community and the Security Council to fulfill their legal and moral responsibilities and work to ensure the implementation of UN resolutions, lift the blockade imposed on the people in Gaza Strip, and to allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid. The ministry also called to halt the genocide and systematic starvation on the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, the Arab League held an extraordinary session at the level of permanent representatives on Tuesday to address the ongoing starvation siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. The session, chaired by Jordan and requested by Palestine, focused on the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly the Israeli occupation’s deliberate starvation of Gaza’s population. Discussions also addressed Israeli occupation plans to establish a so-called “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, described during the session as a closed, racially segregated detention zone, which is a continuation of forced mass displacement and genocide. The session further highlighted the grave repercussions of the Israeli occupation’s targeting of mosques and churches, particularly efforts to strip the Hebron Municipality of its authority over the Ibrahimi Mosque in favor of a so-called “religious council” affiliated with illegal settlements. The Council also reviewed possible political, legal, and diplomatic measures at both the Arab and international levels to confront these serious violations.

Kuwait was represented at the session by its Permanent Representative to the Arab League, Ambassador Talal Al-Mutairi. Israeli troops for the first time Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors. Deir al-Balah is the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war, leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers of hostages there. The main group representing hostages’ families said it was “shocked and alarmed” by the incursion and demanded answers from Israeli leaders. Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in ongoing ceasefire talks. The U.N. food agency, meanwhile, accused Israeli forces of firing on a crowd of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid over the weekend.

The Gaza Health Ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on aid-seekers in the war that has driven the territory to the brink of famine. In the latest sign of international frustration, the United Kingdom, France and 23 other Western-aligned countries issued a statement saying “the war in Gaza must end now.” They harshly criticized Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid and called for the release of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza. Associated Press reporters heard explosions and saw smoke rising from parts of the city that were ordered evacuated on Sunday. The Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said it was the first time ground troops had operated in the area. A man living in the evacuation zone, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said Israel dropped pamphlets at dawn ordering people to evacuate.

Two hours later, tanks rolled into the area. He said his 62-year-old father, who had spent the night elsewhere, fled from house to house as Israeli forces moved in and saw them flattening structures with bulldozers and tanks. Both men managed to leave the evacuation zone. The World Health Organization said Israeli forces raided its main staff residence in Deir al-Balah, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward the coast. “Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint,” the U.N. health agency said in a statement. It said two staff and two family members were detained, with three later released and one still being held. The WHO said its main warehouse in the city, which is in the evacuation zone, was damaged by an explosion and a fire, hurting the agency’s ability to help hospitals and emergency medical teams.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier said two U.N. guesthouses in Deir al-Balah were damaged by shrapnel. He said the cause was still being investigated but that heavy Israeli airstrikes had been reported in the area. Local and international staff will continue to work there, he said. The military declined to say if it had ordered the evacuation of aid groups based in the city, saying only that it maintains continuous contact with them and facilitates their relocation when necessary. Separately, the military announced that a 19-year-old soldier was killed and an officer was severely wounded in combat in southern Gaza. Tens of thousands of people have sought refuge in Deir al-Balah during repeated waves of mass displacement in Gaza. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator says 87.8% of Gaza is now under evacuation orders or inside Israeli military zones, “leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12 per cent of the Strip, where essential services have collapsed.” Israel has taken over large areas of Gaza and split the territory with corridors stretching from the border to the sea as it seeks to pressure Hamas to release more hostages. In response to the Deir al-Balah incursion, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum warned in its statement that “the people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages - both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn’t know what was at stake.”

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war and killed around 1,200 people. Fewer than half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive. Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas, and it accuses the group of prolonging the war because Hamas has not accepted Israel’s terms for a ceasefire. The World Food Program, in a rare condemnation, said the crowd surrounding its convoy in northern Gaza on Sunday “came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire.” It said “countless lives” were lost. A photographer working with the AP counted 51 bodies at two hospitals. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 80 people were killed. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat” and questioned the death toll reported by the Palestinians. It declined to comment on the WFP statement. Hundreds of people have been killed while seeking food in recent weeks, both from U.N. convoys and separate aid sites run by an Israelibacked group that has been mired in controversy. The Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to more than 59,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Gaza health officials said at least 18 people, including three women and five children, were killed in Israeli strikes overnight and into Monday.