Regional Ministers Condemn Gaza Strikes

PHOTO CAPTION: Palestinians walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war, at Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

ISTANBUL, Aug. 6 — The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and several other countries on Thursday condemned what they described as continuing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip, including attacks on healthcare facilities, medical infrastructure and civilian infrastructure.

The joint statement, also signed by the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, condemned the continued loss of civilian life in Gaza. Israel rejected the criticism, saying the statement “distorts reality” by accusing Israel of undermining President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan while failing to address what it described as 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 Israeli prime minister’s office, said in a statement.

Israel has continued carrying out strikes in Gaza since agreeing last October to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire. Those strikes have killed 1,200 Palestinians over the past nine months, while Palestinian health officials say many of those killed were women and children. Hamas rarely discloses its own casualty figures.

Last week, Trump said there had been a breakthrough in his broader plan to end the war, which both Israel and Hamas agreed to last year and which began with the ceasefire. Trump said Hamas had agreed to lay down its weapons.

Hamas governed Gaza for nearly two decades before carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

(Source: Reuters)