Six months after the war in Gaza began, a group of aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike, embodying both the dire humanitarian crisis and the lack of a clear way out of the conflict that has left Israel increasingly isolated.
Monday night’s attack, which killed seven workers at the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid organization, including six foreigners, has angered even some of Israel’s closest allies and intensified pressure to end the fighting.
The Israeli military admitted the attack was carried out by its troops in error and apologized for the “unintentional” deaths of seven people, including British, Australian and Polish citizens, a dual US-Canadian citizen and a Palestinian colleague.
But this has done little to alleviate growing panic abroad, with public opinion even in traditionally friendly countries such as Britain, Germany or Australia turning against Israel’s Gaza operation following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
U.S. President Joe Biden, facing growing pressure from his supporters to end the fighting, said he was outraged by the convoy attack. On Thursday, following a call with Netanyahu, the White House demanded “concrete and measurable steps to reduce civilian harm” and said future U.S. support would depend on Israel’s actions.
Increase aid channels
On Friday, Netanyahu ordered the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza, the temporary use of the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, and increased access for Jordanian aid through the Kerman Shalom crossing in southern Gaza.
Gaza is in ruins and most of its 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes and now rely on aid to survive, a painful shame during Ramadan as Muslims around the world eat traditional Ramadan meals and desserts after fasting Come and break your fast. Sunset.
“We had some hopes before Ramadan, but those hopes were shattered the night before Ramadan started,” said Um Nasser Dahman, 33, who now lives with her family of five. Staying in a tent camp in the southern city of Rafah. Currently, more than half of Gaza’s population is in shelters.
“We used to live well before the war, but we have become dependent on limited aid and our relatives,” she said via text message.
Even before the attack on the convoy, Israel was diplomatically isolated, with the United Nations General Assembly repeatedly calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and under intense pressure to increase aid to Gaza, where aid groups say famine is looming.
Although Israel says its forces have killed thousands of Hamas militants and destroyed most of its fighting forces, the war has raged on for months and Israeli troops are still fighting militants in northern and central Gaza, areas where they are apparently It had been cleared early in the war. war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far resisted pressure to change course, insisting that Hamas remains an existential threat to Israel and must be destroyed before lasting peace can be restored.
“Victory is within reach. It’s very close and there’s no substitute for victory,” he told a delegation of Republican lawmakers in Jerusalem on Thursday, calling for more budget support just hours before his call with Biden.
Repeat cycle
The Israeli public largely continues to support the war goals of destroying Hamas and bringing back the 134 hostages still held in Gaza. But Netanyahu himself faces a growing protest movement and demands for new elections, and polls suggest he will lose miserably.
“I feel very strongly that everyone outside of Israel who is calling for a ceasefire does not understand the situation here,” said Wendy Carol, a 73-year-old writer and startup founder from Jerusalem. “We have gone through so much Many invasions and invasions, we will stand as a democratic Jewish state.”
Still, she said: “I don’t trust the Prime Minister. He is a divisive force in this country and many, many people of all backgrounds feel that way.”
While peace talks have been ongoing, hopes of a breakthrough that would secure a pause in fighting and return the hostages have been repeatedly dashed, with Hamas leaders saying they could keep fighting longer.
“Six months on, the Qassam Brigades are still able to continue fighting the Zionist occupying forces,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.
The war broke out after an attack led by Hamas that took more than 250 hostages and killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli statistics, the worst single-day death toll in Israeli history. The campaign has been the bloodiest ever for Palestinians, with more than 33,000 people killed so far, according to Gaza health authorities.
More than 250 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion began, with nearly 350 more killed on 7 October.
Palestinian casualty figures generally do not distinguish between militants and civilians, with Israel saying more than 10,000 militants had been killed, but the armed group did not confirm this figure. But more than a third of those killed were children, according to the United Nations.
The scale of casualties has prompted growing global panic and calls for a stop, but for the people of Gaza, the wait continues.
“I believe that everything will end, that the war will end,” said Umm Nasser Dahman in Gaza. “But?”
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