The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland warned Gaza's humanitarian situation is "catastrophic," with 1.3 million people needing urgent shelter and 740,000 at risk from sanitation collapse. They urged Israel to allow predictable NGO access, lift restrictive import rules on medical and shelter supplies, and open crossings including Rafah. Ministers called for truck targets (4,200/week; 250 UN/day) to be treated as minimums so aid reaches people at the necessary scale. The warning followed US President Donald Trump's public pressure on Hamas to disarm amid fragile ceasefire efforts.
Ten Foreign Ministers Warn Gaza Faces 'Catastrophic' Humanitarian Collapse As Winter Nears
A fragile ceasefire in Gaza holds but living conditions continue to be dire (Omar AL-QATTAA)(Omar AL-QATTAA/AFP/AFP)
Foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland issued a joint warning on Tuesday that Gaza's humanitarian situation has deteriorated to "catastrophic" levels and is likely to worsen as winter sets in.
Key Concerns Raised by the Ministers
In a statement released by the UK Foreign Office, the ministers said heavy rainfall and falling temperatures were compounding already dire conditions. They highlighted alarming statistics: 1.3 million people need urgent shelter support, more than half of health facilities are only partially functional and suffering critical supply shortages, and the collapse of sanitation infrastructure has left 740,000 people vulnerable to toxic flooding.
"As winter draws in, civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping," the ministers wrote, urging immediate action to prevent further loss of life and disease outbreaks.
The ministers welcomed recent progress toward ending the bloodshed and securing the release of hostages, but stressed that humanitarian needs must remain central to diplomatic efforts.
Demands and Practical Steps
They called on the government of Israel to take a set of "urgent and essential" measures, including:
- Ensuring international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can operate in Gaza in a sustained and predictable manner; warning that many established NGO partners face deregistration under new Israeli requirements as 31 December approaches.
- Allowing the United Nations and humanitarian partners to continue lifesaving operations without unreasonable restrictions, including on items labelled as "dual use" — explicitly citing medical and shelter supplies.
- Opening and maintaining crossings to increase the flow of aid. While the ministers welcomed the partial reopening of the Allenby crossing, they said other corridors, including Rafah, remain closed or severely restricted for humanitarian consignments.
- Lifting limits that currently cap aid to a target of 4,200 trucks per week (including an allocation of 250 UN trucks per day), saying these should be treated as a minimum rather than a ceiling so vital supplies can reach people at the scale required.
Operational Barriers
The ministers also highlighted that bureaucratic customs processes and extensive security screenings are causing delays, while commercial cargo appears to move more freely — a discrepancy they said must be addressed to prioritize humanitarian life-saving shipments.
Context: Politics and Security
The joint appeal came a day after US President Donald Trump, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned Hamas there would be "hell to pay" if it refused to disarm — comments that underscored the political tensions surrounding implementation of the October ceasefire. Trump said Israel had "lived up" to its commitments and placed responsibility on Hamas; Hamas's armed wing reiterated it would not surrender its weapons.
The ministers warned that without predictable NGO access, unfettered UN operations and the removal of import restrictions, Gaza's humanitarian emergency will deepen sharply as winter arrives and sanitation systems fail.
What’s Next: The ministers urged immediate diplomatic and operational steps to expand aid flows and protect civilians, while pushing for political progress to stabilize the territory and enable reconstruction.
