Saudi Arabia says Israel halting Gaza aid is 'collective punishment'
Egypt also condemned on Sunday Israel's decision to stop humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip as a "flagrant violation" of the truce agreement in its war with Hamas, which Cairo had helped broker
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia condemned on Sunday Israel's decision to block aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, dubbing it "blackmail" as talks to extend a fragile truce in the war appeared at an impasse.
The Israeli decision "to stop the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and its use as a tool of blackmail and collective punishment... is a flagrant violation of international law and a direct violation of the rules of international humanitarian law", said a foreign ministry statement cited by the official Saudi Press Agency, also urging the international community to "stop these serious Israeli violations".
Egypt condemned on Sunday Israel's decision to stop humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip as a "flagrant violation" of the truce agreement in its war with Hamas, which Cairo had helped broker.
"Egypt affirms that these measures constitute a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement," said a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry, accusing Israel of using starvation as "a weapon against the Palestinian people".
