Germany, Britain, and France Call for a Sustainable Ceasefire in Gaza; Netanyahu Says 'War Will Continue Until Hamas is Destroyed'

David Cameron, the UK Foreign Secretary, and Annalena Baerbock, his German counterpart, issued a joint statement calling for a 'sustainable ceasefire' in Gaza. Simultaneously, Catherine Colonna, the French Foreign Minister, also made a similar request during her meeting with her Israeli counterpart in Tel Aviv. The UK and German Foreign Ministers, in their statement published on Sunday in the British newspaper 'Sunday Times', called for a 'sustainable ceasefire' in the Gaza conflict, but did not mention an 'immediate ceasefire' in the war between Israel and Hamas. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Catherine Colonna, who traveled to Israel, called for an 'immediate and sustainable' ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that during this war 'a large number of civilians are being killed in Palestinian territories.' According to AFP, Colonna expressed concern about the escalation of the conflict in the region during her meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Tel Aviv, warning that if the situation spirals out of control, none of the parties, including Israel, would benefit from it. These requests from three major European powers allied with the United States come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to assert that the war in Gaza will persist until all objectives, including the destruction of Hamas, the Iranian-backed militant group, are achieved. Last week, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Out of 193 member states of this international body, 153 voted in favor of the resolution, 10 countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against it, and 23 countries abstained. The United States had previously vetoed a similar resolution in the UN Security Council. Hamas's attack on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel, triggered the ongoing war. Israel claims it aims to eradicate Hamas's presence in Gaza. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States. Egyptian sources: Israel and Hamas have disagreements over the ceasefire. Two other shipping companies have refrained from transiting through the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait; Houthi attacks have made the Red Sea unsafe. Israel discovered 'the largest Hamas tunnel' in Gaza. The first shipment of humanitarian aid entered Gaza through the 'Karem Shalom' crossing. The French Foreign Minister called for an 'immediate and sustainable' ceasefire in Gaza. The U.S. Agency for International Development reported the death of one of its contractors due to bombardment in Gaza.