Norway demands urgent cease-fire in Gaza, labels situation ‘man-made disaster’

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) - Norway demanded an urgent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, while reminding the world that the situation is a “man-made disaster,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Tuesday.

Israel's use of military force is having a disproportionately severe effect on the civilian population, which is not in line with international humanitarian law, Barth Eide said in a statement.

“There is an urgent need for a ceasefire” and a need to deliver “more life-saving humanitarian aid to the population,” he said.

Barth Eide suggested that there is no “quick fix to the war in Palestine,” but said that “there are ways to improve the situation.”

“We must all do more to address this terrible situation. And we must focus our efforts on what can make a difference,” he said.

Norway was one of the first Western countries to call for a cease-fire in Gaza and issued strong warnings against a ground invasion in Rafah and any forced displacement of civilians from Gaza.

More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, since Israel launched a brutal war on Gaza, with tens of thousands injured, missing or uncounted for, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The UN warned earlier this month about “imminent famine in the Gaza Strip,” while urging immediate action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in a territory where many Security Council members warned that Israel is using “hunger as a weapon of war.”

At least 576,000 residents in Gaza, one-quarter of the population, are “one step away from famine,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, director of coordination at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, according to a statement.

The food-security experts warn of “complete agricultural collapse in northern Gaza by May” if conditions persist, said the UN.

“Unfortunately, as grim as the picture we see today is, there is every possibility for further deterioration,” said Rajasingham.

Barth Eide urged the world earlier this month to stand by the UN Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA) after Western countries halted payments to the UN agency pending an investigation into Israeli unproven claims that some of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel.