Gaza Crisis Mounts: Israel Faces Growing Global Pushback Over Humanitarian Fallout
The world is witnessing a tragedy of epic proportions in West Asia, but the tide is turning slowly and surely amid efforts to halt it. The relentless and brutal assault on Gaza by Israeli defence forces has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
Thousands of Palestinians have been killed, many of them women and children, and thousands more have been displaced in the continuous strafing. The Israelis’ blockade of food supplies and humanitarian aid to Gaza has triggered another crisis, with thousands on the verge of starvation amid fuel and water scarcity.
In heartbreaking scenes, desperate and starving Palestinians, in the wake of a three-month blockade, stormed past barricades in southern Rafah as the US and Israel-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened its first aid distribution point even as Israeli forces fired on the crowd to bring the situation under control.
The GHF’s distribution methods have been criticised by the United Nations and other aid groups, alleging that it does not abide by humanitarian principles and can further displace people. Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023, attack on the country by Hamas terrorists, killing 1200 people and taking over 250 Israelis hostage, has been unrelenting. The Gaza Strip has been rendered unrecognizable, and nothing has been spared, including hospitals and educational institutions.
However, gradually public opinion is turning against the Netanyahu government, and even its trusted European allies are calling out Israel on its actions.
Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Canadian PM Mike Carney issued a joint statement slamming Israel’s assault on Gaza as ‘wholly disproportionate’ and have threatened concrete action, while the European Union has announced that it will review political and economic relations with Israel.
In a severe blow to Israel over its Gaza offensive, one of its most trusted allies, Germany, has warned of unspecified measures and has said it will not export weapons used to break humanitarian law. Even US President Donald Trump skipped a visit to Israel during his recent tour of the region but spoke of the starvation looming large over Gaza.
Arab nations have for long been calling for a two-state solution envisaging a legitimate homeland for the Palestinians as the only way out, but Netanyahu has vehemently opposed such a move. Though the recent shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC generated some sympathy, Israel and the Netanyahu government are increasingly facing global isolation for what is being perceived as targeting of a community and a virtual genocide.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s refusal to listen to reason is perhaps prompted by internal compulsions, as he is hugely unpopular within the country, and his need to continue the war is a bid to deflect from corruption charges that he faces.
The irony is that the Jewish nation, which came into existence nearly 77 years ago as a counter-narrative against the Holocaust and Hitler’s pogrom, is itself subjecting the Palestinian people to similar horrors.
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