Israel

Supreme Court finds no factual basis for Ronen Bar’s dismissal, highlighting irregularities and lack of formal hearing.

Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s decision to fire domestic security chief Ronen Bar was “unlawful”, marking the latest twist in a bitter power struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the country’s justice system.

The top court “ruled that the government’s decision to terminate the head of the Shin Bet’s tenure was made through an improper and unlawful process,” its ruling said on Wednesday.

It also said that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in moving to get Bar fired, as the Shin Bet was also conducting a probe into alleged ties between the prime minister’s close aides and Qatar.

The two men have traded accusations and barbs over deep-seated security failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

Netanyahu first said he would fire Bar due to a breakdown in “trust”, suggesting it was linked to October 7, which then led to the Gaza war. But Bar said Netanyahu’s decision was motivated by a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025.

In the unclassified part of the court submission, Bar said Netanyahu had told him “on more than one occasion” that he expected Shin Bet to take action against Israelis involved in anti-government demonstrations, “with a particular focus on monitoring the protests’ financial backers”.

The Shin Bet head also said he had refused to sign off on a security request aimed at relieving Netanyahu from testifying at an ongoing corruption trial in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust.

The court said the decision to dismiss Bar was made without “a factual basis” and without giving him a formal hearing before firing him, according to a report by the Times of Israel.

Wednesday’s ruling noted “irregularities” in the process that led to Bar’s sacking, as well as “a disregard for fundamental principles regarding internal security.”

The Israeli cabinet voted to dismiss Bar in March, triggering mass protests and accusations of autocratic pursuits by the far-right government.

The High Court of Justice halted the decision until a hearing could be held. Several groups, including opposition politicians, had filed petitions with the court against the government’s decision.

In April, the government revoked the decision to fire Bar a day after he said he would step down.

Following Bar’s decision to quit the job, Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling said that “this announcement puts an end to the [legal] procedure.”

Israeli soldiers were captured on video firing towards a group of foreign diplomats on a visit to Jenin in the occupied West Bank, forcing them to run to their vehicles and flee the area. The military claims the group deviated from an “approved route” and the shots were only a “warning.”

At least 52 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as pressure mounts on Tel Aviv to allow significant humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave to avert a looming famine.

Israeli air strikes and tank fire continued to pound the besieged territory on Wednesday. Among those killed were at least eight people in Gaza City, two people in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp and two people in the Maghazi camp in central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza.

The attacks come after Israel began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, but the aid has not yet reached Palestinians in desperate need.

Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the UN’s humanitarian agency, said no trucks were picked up from the Gaza side of Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, in southern Gaza.

Israel announced that 93 aid trucks had entered Gaza from Israel following an 11-week blockade.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum explained that most of those trucks had only received military clearance to enter the Palestinian side of the crossing.

“They are still stuck at the border crossing. Only five trucks have made it in,” Abu Azzoum said, adding, “This could be another sign of the systematic obstruction of aid in Gaza.”

Aid groups have said that the amount of aid that Israel is allowing is not nearly enough, calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts a “smokescreen to pretend the siege is over”.

“The Israeli authorities’ decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while, in fact, keeping them barely surviving,” said Pascale Coissard, the emergency coordinator in Khan Younis for Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF.

The Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza said trucks were entering Gaza on Wednesday morning, but it was unclear if that aid would be able to continue deeper into Gaza for distribution.

A few dozen Israeli activists opposed to Israel’s decision to allow aid into Gaza while Hamas still holds Israeli captives attempted to block the trucks carrying the aid on Wednesday morning, but were kept back by Israeli police.

Israel is facing growing international pressure over its renewed offensive on Gaza.

The United Kingdom has suspended talks with Israel on a free trade deal, and the European Union said it will review a pact on political and economic ties over the “catastrophic situation” in Gaza. Britain, France and Canada have threatened “concrete actions” if Israel continues its offensive.

Pope Leo on Wednesday also appealed for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

“I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the devastating price of which is paid by children, the elderly and the sick,” the pope said during his weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday urged world leaders to take immediate action to end Israel’s siege on Gaza, issuing the appeal in a written statement during a visit to Beirut, where he is expected to discuss the disarmament of Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

“I call on world leaders to take urgent and decisive measures to break the siege on our people in the Gaza Strip,” Abbas said, demanding the immediate entry of aid, an end to the Israeli offensive, the release of detainees and a full withdrawal from Gaza.

“It is time to end the war of extermination against the Palestinian people. I reiterate that we will not leave, and we will remain here on the land of our homeland, Palestine,” Abbas said.

Since the war began in October 2023 following the Hamas attack that killed 1,139 people in southern Israel, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 53,573 people and wounded 121,688 others.

The UK has suspended trade talks, while France and Canada have threatened action if Israel continues to starve and bomb Palestinians in Gaza. So, is the tide turning on foreign support for Israel, or is this all just PR? Soraya Lennie takes a look.

By AP with Indrabati Lahiri

Published on
21/05/2025 – 11:32 GMT+2

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Oil prices surged on Wednesday after a report by CNN suggested that Israel could launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to new US intelligence. 

US crude oil jumped 1.1% on Wednesday morning to $62.7 per barrel, whereas Brent crude oil advanced 1% to $66 per barrel. 

However, CNN emphasised that it wasn’t clear as yet whether a confirmed decision about the possible attack had been made.

Oil markets have been volatile for the last few days, mainly because of anticipation around the next round of Iran-US nuclear talks, due to be held this weekend. These talks are also expected to help increase global oil supply. 

However, any strike against Iran by Israel is likely to negatively impact these negotiations, which in turn, could further fuel Middle Eastern tensions and significantly affect oil markets. 

Although Israel has not been shy about its intentions to target Iran, several Iranian nuclear facilities may already be capable of defending themselves against the majority of strikes. 

Robert Rennie, head of commodity and carbon research for Westpac Banking Corp, said, as reported by Bloomberg: “This is the clearest sign yet of how high the stakes are in the US-Iran nuclear talks and the lengths Israel may go to if Iran insists on maintaining its commercial nuclear capabilities.”

He added: “Crude will maintain a risk premium as long as the current talks appear to be going nowhere.”

Traditional forex safe havens such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc also saw a slight boost following the release of the CNN report. 

US-Iran nuclear talks hang in the balance

In talks on the nuclear issue, Iranian officials have warned they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said in an ABC News interview on Sunday, as reported by the BBC: “We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability. We’ve delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them. We want to get to a solution here. And we think that will be able to.”

He added: “But everything begins from our standpoint with a deal that does not include enrichment. We cannot have that. Because enrichment enables weaponisation, and we will not allow a bomb to get here.”

Earlier this week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei revealed that he did not believe that the latest round of talks between Iran and the US would be successful.

Despite rising sanctions from the US and some of its allies such as Europe and the UK, Iran has been able to continue exporting crude oil and has also increased its supply in the last few months.

Ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts such as the Israel-Hamas war and Houthi Red Sea attacks have gone a long way in souring relations between Israel and Iran in the last several months.

As such, any new attack, especially on Iran’s nuclear facilities may significantly affect the wider Middle Eastern region and further delay any hope of stability in the area.

Just when you thought Eurovision had reached peak absurdity – with its glitter-drenched cliches, outlandish lyrics, and performances that make your local karaoke night look refined – it sank even lower in 2025. This year, Israel not only participated amid its ongoing assault on Gaza and international law, it nearly won.

In the lead-up to the contest, activists across Europe called for Israel’s exclusion. Seventy-two former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter demanding that Israel – and its national broadcaster, KAN – be banned. Protests, petitions, and campaigns swept across the continent, urging the contest to uphold its supposed values of “European unity and culture” rather than spotlight a state accused of systematically starving and bombing a captive population of two million.

But Eurovision did not listen.

Instead, it handed the stage to 24-year-old Yuval Raphael – a survivor of Hamas’s October 7 attack on the Nova Music Festival – who won the public televote in most countries and placed second overall, edged out only because, unlike the public, most professional juries preferred Austria’s entry.

Understandably, Israel’s surprising near-victory triggered a wave of backlash. With populations that have been most vocal in their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza – such as Ireland – supposedly giving the highest marks to Raphael, widespread accusations of vote-rigging emerged. National broadcasters in Spain and Belgium filed formal complaints with the European Broadcasting Union, demanding an investigation into potential manipulation of the televoting system. Meanwhile, The Intercept’s audio analysis revealed that Eurovision organisers had muted audience booing and chants of “Free Palestine” during Raphael’s live performance.

In the aftermath of this year’s contest, the calls for Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision are louder than ever before. Clearly, for many across Europe who love Eurovision – whether for its camp, spectacle, or nostalgic charm – but who also care about international law and Palestinian lives, Israel’s continued inclusion is a moral failure.

And yet, I believe Israel belongs in Eurovision and should stay in the competition going forward. Here’s why.

For one thing, Israel’s continued participation would reflect the reality of European policy. Despite growing public outrage, many European leaders have been unwavering in their support for Israel throughout its devastating campaign in Gaza. While countries like Spain and the Republic of Ireland have called for a reassessment of the European Union’s relationship with Israel, for most of Europe, it’s been business as usual.

In February 2025, despite mounting pressure from human rights groups, European foreign ministers met with their Israeli counterpart and insisted that “political and economic ties remain strong”. A few months later, seven EU countries issued a joint statement calling for an end to what they described as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.  But without action, these words rang hollow.

Europe is also divided on whether it would honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain indicated they would comply. The United Kingdom, as usual, hedged, saying only that it would “comply with legal obligations under domestic and international law”. Meanwhile, Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, flatly refused to enforce the warrant. And among Europe’s largest players – France, Germany, and Italy – the response has ranged from evasive to outright dismissive. France claimed Netanyahu enjoys immunity since Israel isn’t an ICC member; Italy said arresting him would be “unfeasible”; and Germany’s newly elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz even vowed to find “ways and means” for Netanyahu to visit.

Given how European leaders have shown far more enthusiasm for cracking down on Palestine solidarity activists than holding Israel accountable, it feels only fitting that Israel continues to sing and dance on the ruins of Palestinian lives – hand in hand with its European friends.

But this alliance isn’t just political. Those who are promoting it suggest it’s also cultural, and even “civilisational”.

Many Western intellectuals have long cast Israel as an outpost of European values in a supposedly savage region. After October 7, this narrative was renewed with fresh urgency. French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, while insisting he is a “militant defender of human rights”, framed Israel – apartheid and all – as a moral beacon when compared to the usual “others”: Russians, Turks, Chinese, Persians, and Arabs. Their imperial ambitions, he argued, pose a far greater threat to “civilisation” than Israel’s “policy of colonising the West Bank”. He even praised Israel’s “moral fortitude” and supposed concern for civilian life in Gaza – words that have not aged well after 19 months of pure carnage.

American commentator Josh Hammer’s book, Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West, is even more explicit. For him, Israel is the West’s “agent” in a region plagued by violence and Islamic “terrorism”. Those who support Palestinian rights are, in his words, “anti-American, anti-Western jackals”. UK commentator Douglas Murray echoes the same civilisational framing in the book On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, calling Israel a bulwark of good in a world of evil.

Israeli leaders have adopted this language, too. Netanyahu declared shortly after October 7 that “Israel is fighting the enemies of civilisation itself”, urging the West to show “moral clarity”. According to this world view, Israel doesn’t just defend itself – it defends the entire Western civilisation.

All this may sound far removed from a song contest. But Eurovision has always been more than sequins and key changes. It’s a projection of “Europeanness” – and “Europe,” as a concept, has always been political. It’s built on a colonial legacy that imagined Europe as enlightened, orderly, and rational – defined in opposition to the supposedly backward, emotional, and irrational non-European “other”.

This legacy justified colonial conquests and the violent suppression of anti-colonial uprisings. Massacres were cast as the price of restoring order; ethnic cleansing, a civilizing mission. Today, that same narrative lives on in how the West frames Israel – as a beleaguered democracy standing bravely against barbarism.

So when people call for Israel to be banned from Eurovision over this year’s vote-rigging allegations, I can’t help but note the irony: that its genocidal campaign in Gaza didn’t cross a red line for Europe – but cheating in a song contest just might.

If Eurovision were to expel Israel now, it would be the harshest penalty the continent has ever imposed on the nation – and it would be not for mass killing, but for meddling with pop music.

And so, yes – I believe Israel should stay in Eurovision.

After all, Europe and Israel deserve each other.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

As Israel expands its operations in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are again being forced from their homes.

Israel’s prime minister has promised to seize all of the strip – something Palestinian commentators have long been saying.

Benjamin Netanyahu added the ultimate result of this will be the “forcible expulsion of Palestinians” from Gaza.

While partially lifting a blockade of the strip that’s now in its third month, he said he’s doing so only to appease his supporters in the United States.

So what does this mean for the future of Gaza and for the Palestinians suffering displacement, starvation and the constant threat of death?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Afif Safieh, former Palestinian diplomat and former ambassador to the United Kingdom and US

Lex Takkenberg, senior adviser, Question of Palestine Program, Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development

Meron Rapoport, editor, Local Call website

Washington, DC – Top United States diplomat Marco Rubio has suggested his country’s “engagement” is what led Israel to allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza after a months-long blockade on food, medicine and other basic supplies.

At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Democrat Jeff Merkley pressed Rubio, a Republican, about his stance on Israel’s blockade, which spurred fears of imminent famine in the Palestinian territory.

The secretary of state replied that the US is happy to see humanitarian assistance start to enter the territory.

“Ultimately, I don’t think you would have seen the events of the last couple days without our engagement and the engagement of others,” Rubio said.

Israel allowed several aid trucks to enter Gaza on Monday, and United Nations officials have said that around 100 more were cleared to reach the territory on Tuesday.

But that quantity still represents a fraction of the daily needs of Gaza’s population, which numbers over 2.1 million people.

“Israel remains a strong ally. We’re supportive,” Rubio continued. “We understand why for their security Hamas cannot exist. We are also very happy to see that they have allowed aid to begin to flow, and we hope that that will continue.”

Several Western countries, including close partners of Israel, have recently decried the Israeli siege on Gaza. On Monday, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada said in a joint statement that they were “horrified” by Israel’s military escalations in Gaza and its blockade on humanitarian aid.

They threatened to pursue “concrete actions” like sanctions if Israel continued to expand its military assault.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has remained staunchly pro-Israel, but experts say recent moves from the White House signal a growing gap between the US and Israel.

For example, Trump did not include Israel as a stop in his recent trip to the Middle East. He has also initiated diplomatic talks with Iran and declared a ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthi group — both of which are adversaries of Israel in the region.

The Houthis, for instance, continue to launch missiles and drones at Israel in a show of support for the Palestinians in Gaza.

Still, over the past three months, the US has refused to directly criticise Israel’s decision to prevent food and medicine from reaching Gaza.

But last week, at a stop in the United Arab Emirates, Trump indicated he wanted to get the situation in Gaza “taken care of”.

“A lot of people are starving. There’s a lot of bad things going on,” he said.

Also last week, in an interview with the BBC, Rubio said he was “troubled” by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher also told the BBC on Tuesday that as many as 14,000 children in Gaza are at risk of dying in the next 48 hours if food does not reach them.

Last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over possible war crimes in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of war.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would only allow a “basic quantity of food” into the Palestinian territory to stave off international pressure.

“Our best friends in the world – senators I know as strong supporters of Israel – have warned that they cannot support us if images of mass starvation emerge,” he said, according to the publication Haaretz.

The Gaza Government Media Office said on Tuesday that at least 58 Palestinians have died of malnutrition over the past 80 days.

At Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Rubio appeared to acknowledge that more aid needs to reach the Palestinians in Gaza.

“I understand your point that it’s not in sufficient amounts,” Rubio told Merkley. “But we were pleased to see that decision was made.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed the Israeli government for expanding its war on Gaza, calling comments made by its government as ‘repellent’ and ‘monstrous’. The UK also said it was pausing free trade negotiations with Israel.

The United States says a new Israeli-approved organisation – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – is the key to resolving the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, but it already is receiving its fair share of criticism.

The GHF says it is going to start operations before the end of May. United Nations officials and humanitarian groups say it will not have the ability to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza as a result of Israel’s two-month-long blockade.

Instead, the aid groups that have been working in Gaza point out that they have the capacity to bring in food and other humanitarian supplies – if only Israel would let them.

So what is the GHF, and why is the situation in Gaza so desperate? Here’s everything you need to know:

What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?

Officially independent, the GHF is an Israeli- and US-backed body that plans to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip.

One in five people in Gaza currently face starvation due to the Israeli blockade of food and aid while 93 percent are experiencing acute food shortages, according to a UN-backed assessment released last week.

Under increasing international pressure to allow in aid, Israel has sought to find a solution that it says prevents aid from falling into the hands of the Palestinian group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations say the vast majority of food and other supplies reaches Gaza’s civilian population and is not diverted to fighters.

The GHF will be overseen by Jake Wood, a US military veteran who ran Team Rubicon, an organisation that distributed humanitarian aid during natural disasters.

What’s the plan for delivering the aid?

Through the GHF, Palestinians in Gaza would receive a “basic amount of food”.

The initial plan was announced last Wednesday with a timeline of about two weeks before it was up and running.

It’s still unclear how the GHF will be funded, but the foundation says it will set up “secure distribution sites” to feed 1.2 million people in Gaza before expanding to feed every Palestinian in the territory.

It says it will coordinate with the Israeli military while security would be provided by private military contractors.

Why is the GHF being criticised?

The GHF initiative has been widely panned by aid groups and the UN.

The UN and humanitarian aid agencies say they already have the means to distribute desperately needed aid and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. The GHF, on the other hand, is seen by critics as a way of politicising aid and not having the experience or capacity to bring aid to more than two million people.

The GHF “restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet”, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said at the Security Council last week. “It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip. It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement.”

The UN and aid groups say the GHF plan violates basic humanitarian principles.

“We are concerned by the proposed aid mechanism for Gaza and are deeply worried that it will not allow for humanitarian aid to be distributed in a manner consistent with core humanitarian principles of impartiality, humanity, and independence,” a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. “The ICRC cannot work under any mechanism that doesn’t allow us to uphold the principles and our modalities of work.”

Eleven humanitarian and human rights organisations signed a statement in which they “unequivocally reject the establishment” of the GHF, calling it:

“A project led by politically connected Western security and military figures, coordinated in tandem with the Israeli government, and launched while the people of Gaza remain under total siege. It lacks any Palestinian involvement in its design or implementation.”

That lack of Palestinian involvement, coupled with Israel’s approval for the project and the planned presence of the Israeli military “on the perimeter” of the distribution sites, according to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, raises Palestinian suspicions that the establishment of the GHF will give even more power to Israel over aid distribution in Gaza.

Why is aid not reaching Gaza?

Israel is blocking it.

Israel began preventing the entry of all food and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza on March 2 during a ceasefire, which it unilaterally broke on March 18.

Even before the blockade, Israel restricted the amount of aid that could come in, and some Israeli protesters also blocked and destroyed aid.

The situation has reached dire levels with the World Food Programme saying 70,000 children need urgent treatment for “acute malnutrition”.

How would the GHF displace Palestinians?

The UN said the GHF would weaponise aid by threatening the mass displacement of Palestinians.

Initial aid distribution sites would operate only out of southern and central Gaza, which the UN warned could lead to the displacement of Palestinians in northern Gaza as they are forced to move south for food and other aid.

“Humanitarian aid should not be politicized nor militarized,” the ICRC statement said. “This erodes the neutrality required to ensure assistance is delivered based solely on need, not political or military agendas.”

The initiative has also been labelled by many in the humanitarian sector as insufficient.

“Even if implemented, the plan’s proposed aid volumes fall short of the immense scale of needs in Gaza,” according to the ICRC. “The level of need right now is overwhelming, and aid needs to be allowed to enter immediately and without impediment.”

Gaza currently has 400 distribution points, and the ability and know-how to distribute aid effectively exists. With only a few distribution points under the GHF, people may be forced to walk long distances and carry heavy rations.

“The Problem is Not Logistics,” the statement from the 11 humanitarian groups read. “It Is Intentional Starvation.”

Enough. We demand rapid, safe, and unimpeded access to starving civilians in Gaza.

We have a plan. We have thousands of trucks of food at the border. Let us in. Let us work.https://t.co/J55f8shIEU pic.twitter.com/bTmcAMbG0e

— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) May 16, 2025

People with disabilities or who are injured would struggle to navigate the terrain and reach distribution points. The roads in Gaza have been badly damaged over the past 19 months of war, and the intensity of Israel’s latest military operation in Gaza is only making things more difficult for Palestinians there.

Furthermore, the GHF’s assertions that it is independent and transparent have been criticised by aid groups.

“Despite branding itself as ‘independent’ and ‘transparent,’ the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would be wholly dependent on Israeli coordination and operates via Israeli-controlled entry points, primarily the Port of Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing,” the statement by the 11 aid groups read.

While Hanan Salah, Human Rights Watch’s associate director for the Middle East and North Africa, didn’t comment specifically on the GHF, she said allowing “a basic amount of food” into the Gaza Strip was “complicity in using starvation as a method of warfare”.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan criticised the government at a press conference on Tuesday, which was called to address comments he made in an interview where he accused the government of killing “babies as a hobby”.

The leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada have “strongly opposed” the expansion of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, threatening to “take concrete actions” if Israel does not cease its onslaught and lift restrictions on aid supply to the Palestinian enclave.

In a statement released on Monday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said they also oppose settlement expansions in the occupied West Bank. Settler violence has surged in the occupied West Bank as the world’s focus has remained on Gaza. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands displaced in Israeli raids.

The statement comes weeks after the Netherlands urged the European Union (EU) to review a trade agreement with Israel as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified its bombardment of Gaza amid an aid blockade in place since March 2.

Western countries backed Israel’s right to self-defence when Netanyahu’s government launched a devastating offensive in Gaza on October 7, 2023. That offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians and turned vast swathes of Gaza into rubble.

On Tuesday, the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Israel has the right to defend itself, but its current actions go beyond proportionate self-defence.

So what steps might Western countries take against Israel, and has Israel’s latest Gaza onslaught forced them to change their position? Here is what you need to know:

What did the UK, France and Canada say?

The countries’ three leaders criticised Israel’s renewed Gaza offensive, while describing the “human suffering” of Palestinians in the coastal enclave as “intolerable”.

They also said that Israel’s announcement of letting some aid in was “wholly inadequate”.

“If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the leaders’ statement said.

“The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.

“We condemn the abhorrent language used recently by members of the Israeli Government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate. Permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law.”

The three Western leaders said that while they supported Israel’s right to defend itself following Hamas’s attack on October 7, “this escalation is wholly disproportionate”.

“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions,” they said.

On Tuesday, the UK announced it would suspend trade talks with Israel over the Gaza war. It also imposed sanctions on settlers and organisations backing violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s conduct in its war on Gaza and the government’s support for illegal settlements is “damaging our relationship with your government”, said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

My joint statement with @EmmanuelMacron and @MarkJCarney on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. pic.twitter.com/76vYpB42xf

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 20, 2025

Amid intense international pressure, Israeli authorities on Monday cleared nine aid trucks to enter Gaza, where harsh restrictions on food and aid have sparked accusations that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war.

However, the United Nations’ relief chief Tom Fletcher called the entry of the trucks a “drop in the ocean”, adding that “significantly more aid must be allowed into Gaza”.

Fletcher on Tuesday warned that 14,000 Palestinian babies were at risk of dying in the next 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them – a figure he called “utterly chilling”. Some half a million people in Gaza, or one in five Palestinians, are facing starvation due to the Israeli blockade.

Starving Palestinians have resorted to eating animal feed and flour mixed with sand, highlighting acute suffering among the 2.3 million people in Gaza.

The UN humanitarian office’s spokesman Jens Laerke said on Tuesday that about 100 more trucks have been approved by Israel to enter Gaza.

Shifting their focus to the occupied West Bank, the leaders of the UK, France and Canada said they opposed all attempts to expand Israeli settlements, as they are “illegal and undermine the viability of a Palestinian state and the security of both Israelis and Palestinians”.

“We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions,” they said.

Yara Hawari, co-director of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, says the statement by the UK, Canada, and France is “reflective of states wanting to backtrack and try and cover up their complicity”, highlighting that the situation in Gaza is the “worst that it has ever been” and that “the genocide is reaching new levels of cruelty and inhumaneness”.

“They can point to the statement and say, you know, well, we did … stand up against it,” Hawari told Al Jazeera, adding that none have stopped arms sales to Israel.

Hawari specifically referenced the UK’s role, saying it was “particularly complicit in this”. “There are reports coming out every day on how many weapons have been transferred from the UK to Israel over the course of the last 19 months,” she said.

What else have Western nations said?

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on Tuesday that her country will push for EU sanctions against Israeli ministers because of insufficient steps to protect civilians in Gaza.

“Since we do not see a clear improvement for the civilians in Gaza, we need to raise the tone further. We will therefore now also push for EU sanctions against individual Israeli ministers,” Stenergard said in a statement.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot demanded that Israel’s “blind violence” and blockade of humanitarian assistance must come to an end.

On Monday, 24 countries, overwhelmingly European ones, issued a joint statement saying Israel’s decision to allow a “limited restart” of aid operations in Gaza must be followed by a complete resumption of unfettered humanitarian assistance.

It was signed by the foreign ministers of countries including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s top diplomat, Kallas, has decided to order a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a free trade deal between the two regions.

Kallas told Al Jazeera that the Netherlands earlier this month had sought review of the Association Agreement, particularly Article 2 – which states that both parties must respect human rights.

The move has been backed by other member states, including Belgium, France, Portugal and Sweden.

Robert Patman, a professor of international relations at the University of Otago in New Zealand, says the recent criticism emanating from Western capitals was in part due to public pressure.

“I think there’s a sense that in liberal democracies, they can’t ultimately be indifferent to public concern about the situation … I think another factor is a perception among many countries that [US President Donald] Trump himself is getting impatient with the Netanyahu government,” he told Al Jazeera.

Patman explained that with many countries in the Global South having experienced colonialism before, they were quicker than the West to condemn Israel’s actions.

“They have a history of having to struggle for their own political self-determination, and given that experience, they can empathise with the Palestinians who’ve been denied the right,” he said.

How has Israel responded?

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday criticised Carney, Macron and Starmer following their joint statement.

“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on 7 October while inviting more such atrocities,” he posted on X.

By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottowa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more…

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 19, 2025

Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lashed out at the three leaders, saying his country “will not bow its head before this moral hypocrisy, antisemitism, and one-sidedness”.

In a post on X, Smotrich accused the three countries of “morally aligning themselves with a terrorist organisation”.

In particular, Smotrich took issue with the three countries saying they are “committed to recognising a Palestinian state”.

“They have gone so far as to seek to reward terrorism by granting it a state,” he said.

Netanyahu’s government and his far-right coalition partners have been vocal against the realisation of a sovereign Palestinian state despite broad international support for the so-called two-state solution.

What is ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariot’?

This major ground offensive, launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip on Sunday, came after days of intense bombardment that killed hundreds of Palestinians.

Since Sunday, more than 200 people have been killed in a relentless wave of strikes.

Major hospitals, including the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, have been rendered nonoperational after attacks by Israeli forces. Medical professionals said it could lead to the deaths of thousands of sick and wounded people.

With the backing of Israel’s lethal air force, the operation is targeting both southern and northern Gaza.

The Israeli military said the offensive was launched to expand “operational control” in the Gaza Strip. Israel says its campaign also aims to free the remaining captives held in Gaza and defeat Hamas.

However, Netanyahu has been repeatedly criticised by segments of Israeli society, including captives’ families, for failing to prioritise their return. He has also rejected Hamas’s offers to end the war and free the captives.

How will the Western actions impact Israel, and what’s next?

Andreas Krieg, senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, said that the threats from the UK, France and Canada against Israel set a precedent for other Western governments to emulate.

“While it will not have a direct impact on Israel’s behaviour on the ground, it widens the boundaries of discourse internationally and makes it easier for other governments to openly stand against Israeli atrocities,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Key to a change of behaviour in Israel, however, remains the United States,” he said. The US supplies the bulk of arms to Israel as well as providing diplomatic cover at the United Nations.

“Yet, there is a tangible erosion of consensus at play internationally as to the perception of Israel, which taints Israel increasingly as a rogue actor,” Krieg said.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Al Jazeera that the “number one” thing the three countries could do was impose an arms embargo on Israel. “The UK has taken some measures to suspend some arms exports. It’s not enough. It has got to be full and comprehensive,” he said.

Zomlot also said that the states should act to ensure that “war criminals” were “held accountable”. “They must absolutely support our efforts at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice,” he said.

Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant face ICC arrest warrant for war crimes, but some European nations have said that they won’t arrest them.

Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, questioned how the threatened sanctions would be targeted.

“Targeting whom? You need to impose sanctions on the state. It’s not about the prime minister. This is the entire government enterprise,” she told Al Jazeera.

Krieg from King’s College London says the reputational damage will affect Israel far beyond the current war in Gaza.

“It will be difficult to build consensus in the future around the narrative that Israel is an ‘ally’ because it is ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’,” he told Al Jazeera.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Israel’s Gaza aid “totally and utterly inadequate.” Only five aid trucks have entered Gaza since Monday. Britain, France and Canada have threatened “concrete actions” against Israel if it does not stop it offensive in Gaza.

It also imposes new sanctions, targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The British government says it will suspend new free trade negotiations with Israel due to its military conduct in the war on Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in recent days under bombardment and as a new ground offensive has been launched.

The United Kingdom also announced on Tuesday that it was imposing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The actions came a day after the UK, France and Canada condemned Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and assaults and raids in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer ramped up his pointed criticism of Israel on Tuesday, saying the level of suffering by children in Gaza was “utterly intolerable” and repeated his call for a ceasefire.

The Labour government has been heavily criticised at home for not saying or doing enough in support of Palestinians under constant fire and facing starvation in besieged Gaza. Stop the War demonstrations continue to draw thousands of protesters weekly.

Settler violence against Palestinians, backed by the Israeli army, has surged in recent months, as the military also carries out daily raids in the territory.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK’s existing trade agreement is still in effect, but new discussions cannot be undertaken with an Israeli government pursuing “egregious policies” in Gaza and the West Bank.

Lammy said the persistent cycle of violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank demanded action. In addition to previous sanctions imposed, the UK  was now imposing sanctions on another “three individuals, two illegal settler outposts and two organizations supporting violence against the Palestinian community”, he added.

“The Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions,” Lammy said. “Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril.”

Israel quickly denounced the UK decision: “Even prior to today’s announcement, the free trade agreement negotiations were not being advanced at all by the current UK government,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry called the UK sanctions “unjustified and regrettable.

Israel’s military has launched an intense ground offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The offensive comes on the back of a more than two-month total blockade on Gaza after Israel decided to unilaterally end a ceasefire with Hamas in March.

Israel has come under increasing international pressure, including from its staunch allies in the United States government, to agree to a ceasefire and allow aid into Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas and Israeli negotiators are in Doha for new indirect talks.

Here’s everything you need to know about Israel’s latest ground assault:

What is Operation Gideon’s Chariots, and why did it begin now?

Operation Gideon’s Chariots is a major ground offensive launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip that comes after air attacks killed hundreds of Palestinians in recent days and further debilitated Gaza’s healthcare network. With the backing of Israel’s lethal air force, the operation is targeting both southern and northern Gaza.

The assault began as the second day of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas ended on Saturday in Doha. Israel tends to intensify operations and attacks during such negotiations. It said this latest offensive is exerting “tremendous pressure” on Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched this latest assault as US President Donald Trump concluded his Middle East tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates but did not stop in Israel.

What are Israel’s stated objectives for this assault?

The Israeli military said the offensive was launched to expand “operational control” in the Gaza Strip.

Israel says its campaign also aims to free the remaining captives held in Gaza and defeat Hamas.

However, Netanyahu has been repeatedly criticised by segments of Israeli society, including captives’ families, for failing to prioritise their return and has also rejected Hamas’s offers to end the war and free the captives.

A week before the start of the operation, quotes were leaked of Netanyahu speaking about the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza outside the Gaza Strip.

“We are destroying more and more homes. They have nowhere to return to,” Netanyahu said in closed-door testimony made to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. “The only inevitable outcome will be the desire of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip.”

What has happened in Gaza since the offensive began?

Since Sunday, the day Israel confirmed the operation, at least 144 people have been killed in a relentless wave of strikes. At least 42 people died in the heavily bombarded northern part of the Strip, according to medical sources. Five of those killed were journalists.

In southern Gaza, at least 36 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Israeli air strikes on a tent encampment of displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis governorate, according to medical sources.

But the lead-up to the operation also included heavy attacks.

In the past week, Israel has attacked more than 670 places in Gaza and claimed all were “Hamas targets” located both above and beneath the ground. Israel has been accused of disproportionately targeting civilians in Gaza, including displaced families. At least 370 Palestinians were killed over five days.

Since the start of the war in October 2023, at least 53,339 Palestinians have been killed and 121,034 wounded, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The severity of the recent attacks has many Palestinians expressing fears on social media that their latest posts may be their last.

On Monday, the Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders for Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, warning of an “unprecedented attack”.

What is Israel targeting?

Israel said it is targeting Hamas targets, a claim that has been increasingly challenged by human rights groups and experts as its more than 19-month war on Gaza continues.

Among the sites hit are hospitals, a recurring target for the Israeli military in Gaza. Muhammad Zaqout, the director general of hospitals in Gaza, described the tactic as part of “Israel’s systematic measures against hospitals”.

On Sunday, the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was rendered nonoperational after it was besieged by Israeli forces. Medical professionals said it could lead to the deaths of thousands of sick and wounded people.

The situation was described as “catastrophic” by Marwan al-Sultan, the director of the facility, who also called on international organisations to push for the safety of medical teams.

Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabalia and European Gaza Hospital in southern Gaza have also been bombed.

In recent days, Israel said it has killed Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Sinwar, the brother and successor of the late Yahya Sinwar. It also reportedly killed another Sinwar brother, Zakaria Sinwar, a university lecturer, and three of his children in an air strike on central Gaza.

How has Hamas responded?

On Sunday, Hamas released a statement calling the attacks on displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis a “brutal crime” and a flagrant violation of international laws and norms.

The group also placed blame on the US for backing Israel.

“By granting the terrorist occupation government political and military cover, the United States administration bears direct responsibility for this insane escalation in the targeting of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and the elderly,” Hamas said.

What is the current humanitarian situation inside Gaza?

The entire Strip is at risk of famine.

Basic humanitarian supplies, including food, fuel, medical aid and vaccines for children, have been blocked by Israel from entering the Strip. More than 90 percent of the population has been displaced since the war began on October 7, 2023. Many Palestinians have been displaced multiple times with some people being forced to relocate 10 times or more.

Israel has refused the entry of any aid since March 2. International actors and agencies have been pressing hard for Israel to resume the distribution of aid to Gaza to little effect.

“Two months into the latest blockade, two million people are starving, while 116,000 tonnes of food is blocked at the border just minutes away,” said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaking at the opening of the annual World Health Assembly.

One in five Palestinians in Gaza is currently facing starvation, while 9,000 children, who are most vulnerable to Israel’s continued food blockade, have been hospitalised for acute malnutrition since the start of the year, according to the United Nations.

Late on Sunday, Netanyahu announced that some food would be allowed into the Gaza Strip in a much needed reprieve for the local population.

“Israel will allow a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Netanyahu said on Monday that the move was motivated by pressure from Israel’s allies.

It is unclear when the border will open to allow in aid.

What’s the status of the ceasefire talks?

The latest round of talks started on Saturday, and by the end of Sunday, there had been little progress.

Talks are set to continue this week.

Israel and Hamas both claimed the talks began without conditions.

“The Hamas delegation outlined the position of the group and the necessity to end the war, swap prisoners, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and allow humanitarian aid and all the needs of the people of Gaza back into the Strip,” Taher al-Nono, the media adviser for Hamas’s leadership, told the Reuters news agency.

The criticism of Israel is increasing.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “alarmed” by Israel’s expanded offensive in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.

Germany, one of Israel’s foremost backers, expressed deep concern over the offensive.

Its Federal Foreign Office said in a statement: “A large-scale military offensive also entails the risk that the catastrophic humanitarian situation for the population in Gaza and the situation of the remaining hostages will continue to deteriorate and that the prospect of an urgently needed long-term ceasefire fades.”

After the offensive was confirmed, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called for the “immediate, massive and unhampered” resumption of aid into Gaza.

Even before the offensive, international pressure on Israel was growing.

Seven European nations urged Israel on Friday to “reverse its current policy” on Gaza.

The leaders of Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, Spain and Norway released a joint statement on what they called a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our eyes in Gaza”.

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, has called for decisive action to prevent genocide in Gaza.

He criticised the US-Israeli joint plan to replace international aid mechanisms in Gaza as a “waste of time”. More than 160,000 pallets of aid are “ready to move” at the border, he said, but are being blocked by Israel.

Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief, said on Friday that Israel’s bombing campaign is intended to bring about a “permanent demographic shift in Gaza” and is in “defiance of international law”.

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital is “suffering immensely” from a shortage of medical supplies after an Israeli attack hit a medical warehouse early Monday morning. The entire area of Khan Younis is now also under a forced displacement order by the Israeli military.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says Israel should be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest over its war in Gaza. His comments follow protests against Israel’s participation at last weekend’s event in Switzerland, in which Israel finished second behind Austria.