Netanyahu must not be allowed to get away with mass murder

The joint statement by the leaders of Canada, France and the United Kingdom, and announcements by the U.K. and the EU to pause trade talks with Israel are proof that the Netanyahu government is growing more isolated over its brutal campaign on Gaza. Since the ceasefire ended on March 18, over 3,000 residents have been killed in the enclave, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s chokehold on aid and humanitarian supplies has pushed thousands to the brink of starvation, a fact that even Donald Trump, President of Israel’s all-time ally, the U.S., referred to during a trip to West Asia last week. Mr. Trump’s decision to skip Israel was seen as a mark of his displeasure with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy on the issue. Despite the rebukes, Mr. Netanyahu has said Israeli Defence Forces needed to continue to target Hamas operatives in the area, and added that Israel would now re-take full “military control” of the Gaza strip, which the IDF had vacated in 2005. The comments provoked an angry response from the leaders of Canada (Mark Carney), France (Emmanuel Macron), and the U.K. (Keir Starmer), all of whom had pledged their support to Israeli actions in response to the October 7, 2023 terror attacks. They called the level of human suffering in Gaza “intolerable” and Israel’s escalation of bombardment a “disproportionate” response, condemned the Israeli leadership for threatening to evict all Palestinians forcibly from the strip, and recommitted to a “two-state solution” for Israel and Palestine, to be discussed at a United Nations conference in June. Significantly, the three countries even threatened sanctions against Israel. Mr. Netanyahu’s response, to accuse the three leaders of handing Hamas a “huge prize”, and vowing not to stop “until total victory is achieved”, indicates that he still believes that he can continue without being checked.

It is time for the international community to speak up so that Mr. Netanyahu does not think he can get away with what international agencies are calling genocide. New Delhi has notably thus far not issued any statement. This silence may be because of its own preoccupation with Pakistan and due to Israel’s unequivocal support over Operation Sindoor. There is no link or equivalence between the two situations, however. Too many lives have been lost in the incessant bombardment by Israel of an area of two million people. Despite the depredations, Israel has not, with any clarity, met its objectives of bringing back the hostages or of wiping out Hamas’s presence there yet. Mr. Netanyahu has tried to frame his government’s actions as a “war of civilisation over barbarism”, but it is he who must consider how much this direction-less war that appears to punish the weakest and most defenceless the most resembles the latter more than the former, as the numbers of supporters for this war diminish worldwide.
(The Hindu)