The words of some of Israel’s closest allies are surprising in their intensity: shocked, outraged, no more excuses.
The Israeli army’s killing of seven aid workers in Gaza has drawn unprecedented criticism from European leaders, who are stepping up calls for a ceasefire and in some cases halting arms sales to Israel as the toll of the war continues to mount becomes higher.
The attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy has sharpened the dilemma for European politicians, who are caught between support for an ally that suffered a horrific attack on October 7 and growing public pressure to stop a war about which they have little control.
Nothing justifies such a tragedy, French Foreign Minister Sbastien Sjourn said after Monday’s attack. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was shocked by the deaths of the aid workers, three of whom were British.
Britain summoned Israel’s ambassador for a reprimand over the killings. This also applied to Poland, which lost one of its citizens and whose foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, expressed moral outrage.
Outside Europe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said targeting aid workers was absolutely unacceptable, and Australian leader Anthony Albanese said his country was outraged.
Israel said the attack that killed the aid workers and their Palestinian driver was a tragic mistake. The Army fired two officers and reprimanded three others, saying they violated Army rules.
Julie Norman, associate professor of politics and international relations at University College London, said unease about the conflict was already growing in Europe, and Monday’s attack had accelerated this and made it much more public.
Things that were said more quietly are now said much louder, she said.
When Hamas killed about 1,200 Israelis in a cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, Israel’s European allies strongly supported its right to strike back.
Within weeks, some expressed concern about the increasing bloodshed. French President Emmanuel Macron already called for a ceasefire in November. Sunak has moved from supporting a humanitarian pause to backing a lasting ceasefire, with Hamas releasing Israeli hostages and halting attacks.
Germany is one of Israel’s closest allies and, given memories of the Holocaust, is cautious in criticizing its actions. While remaining cautious in emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself, the government has become increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed concern about the toll of the war, asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting last month how any goal can justify such terribly high costs.
Palestinians, aid workers and international rights groups say Western outrage over the deaths of foreign aid workers contrasts with the muted response to the suffering of Gaza residents.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 33,000 people have been killed in Hamas-controlled territory, including more than 220 humanitarian workers. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans are on the brink of starvation.
It is sad that an attack on international aid workers was attempted to draw the attention of leaders, said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, associate fellow in the International Security Program at international affairs think tank Chatham House. But unfortunately that is the reality.
The attack on the World Central Kitchen has increased pressure on European governments to move from criticism to suspending arms sales to Israel.
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a non-binding resolution on Friday. Of the European countries in the 47 countries, only Germany voted against, as did the United States.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez said Thursday that his country had stopped selling weapons to Israel and urged other countries to do the same. In February, Canada announced it would halt future shipments, and the same month a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to halt exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, although the Dutch government said it would appeal.
In Britain, more than 600 British lawyers, including three retired Supreme Court judges, have urged the government to heed the International Court of Justice’s conclusion that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and to stop shipping weapons to Israel.
“I believe we have no choice but to suspend arms sales,” said Alicia Kearns, a lawmaker from the governing Conservatives and chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. British arms export licenses require a recipient to comply with international humanitarian law.
Suspending arms sales would be an important political statement by Britain, but it would not make a big difference to the war. According to the British government, Britain sold just 42 million pounds ($53 million) worth of defense equipment to Israel in 2022.
The only country with major influence is the United States, which has also started to harden its line towards Israel. President Joe Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday that continued US support for the war depended on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers. Hours later, Israel announced it would open new aid routes to Gaza and increase the amount of food and other supplies entering the area.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday that Germany expected the Israeli government to implement its announcements quickly.
No more excuses, she wrote on X in a tone that would have been unthinkable months ago.
Germany is the second-largest arms supplier to Israel, approving 326.5 million euros (USD 354 million) in defense exports last year, according to the German news agency dpa.
Asked Friday under what circumstances Germany would consider suspending arms deliveries to Israel, government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said arms exports are always case-by-case decisions that take political and human rights issues into account.
Bar-Yaacov said a decision by European countries to halt arms shipments unless Israel complies with international law would make a huge difference by increasing pressure on the United States to take tough measures of its own.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: April 6, 2024 | 10:51 am IST