European leaders condemn Israel's plan to expand military operation in Gaza City
Israel's security cabinet on Friday approved the plan to take control of Gaza City.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement Friday, "The Israeli Government's decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong." He urged the country to "reconsider immediately."
Starmer said Israel's action would not bring an end to the conflict or help secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas, but would only bring more bloodshed.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also condemned Israel's decision. He said, "The German government will, until further notice, authorise no military equipment exports that can be used in the Gaza Strip."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on social media that the Israeli government's decision must be reconsidered. She called for an immediate ceasefire saying that "humanitarian aid must be given immediate and unhindered access to Gaza to deliver what is urgently needed on the ground."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
Thai soldiers injured by landmine near Cambodia amid fragile ceasefire
Three Thai soldiers were injured by a land mine on Saturday while patrolling a border area near Cambodia, the Thai army said in a statement, days after the two neighbors agreed to a detailed ceasefire following a violent five-day conflict last month. One soldier lost a foot and two others were injured after one of them stepped on a land mine as they patrolled an area between Thailand's Sisaket and Cambodia's Preah Vihear provinces. The soldiers are being treated at a hospital, the army said. Thailand said the incident took place within its territory and in an area recently cleared of land mines. It added it would lodge a complaint against Cambodia for violating a treaty that bans the use of land mines and for infringing on Thai sovereignty, the Thai foreign ministry said in a statement. Both Thailand and Cambodia are signatories to the Ottawa Convention against land mines. Cambodia's defense ministry said on Saturday that it "has yet to receive clear confirmation from Cambodian front-line forces concerning the explosion," adding that its army has been strictly respecting the spirit of the ceasefire. The incident is the third time in a few weeks that Thai soldiers have been injured by mines while patrolling along the border. Two previous incidents led to the downgrading of diplomatic relations and triggered five days of violent clashes. The Southeast Asian neighbors were engaged in deadly border clashes from July 24-28 in the worst fighting between the two in more than a decade. The exchanges of artillery fire and jet fighter sorties claimed at least 43 lives and left over 300,000 people displaced on both sides. A fragile ceasefire has been holding since Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Thursday to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to inspect disputed border areas to ensure hostilities do not resume. Bangkok earlier accused Cambodia of planting land mines on the Thai side of the disputed border that injured soldiers on July 16 and July 23. Phnom Penh denied it had placed any new mines and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered old land mines left from its decades of war.
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
As Gaza faces starvation, reluctant Germany starts to curb support for Israel
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel's plans to expand military control over the enclave have pushed Germany to curb arms exports to Israel, a historically fraught step for Berlin driven by a growing public outcry. Conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, until now a staunchly pro-Israel leader, made the announcement on Friday arguing that Israel's actions would not achieve its stated war goals of eliminating Hamas militants or bringing Israeli hostages home. It is a bold move for a leader who, after winning elections in February, said he would invite Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany in defiance of an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister issued by the International Criminal Court. The shift reflects how Germany's come-what-may support for Israel, rooted in its historical guilt over the Holocaust, is being tested like never before as the high Palestinian civilian death toll in Gaza, massive war destruction and images of starving children are chipping away at decades of policy. "It is remarkable as it is the first concrete measure of this German government. But I would not see it as a U-turn, rather a 'warning shot,'" said Muriel Asseburg, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. It caps months of the German government sharpening its tone over Israel's escalating military campaign in the small, densely populated Palestinian enclave, though still shying away from tougher steps that other European countries and some voices in Merz's ruling coalition were calling for. The suspension of arms deliveries to Israel would affect just those that could be used in Gaza. The move reflects a hardening mood in Germany, where public opinion has grown critical of Israel and more demanding that its government help ease a humanitarian disaster — most of the 2.2 million population is homeless and Gaza is a sea of rubble. According to an ARD-DeutschlandTREND survey released on Thursday, a day before Merz's announcement, 66% of Germans want their government to put more pressure on Israel to change its behavior. A protest in Berlin demanding the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas | REUTERS That is higher than April 2024, when some 57% of Germans believed their government should criticize Israel more strongly than before for its actions in Gaza, a Forsa poll showed. Despite Germany helping air drop aid to Gaza, 47% of Germans think their government is doing too little for Palestinians there, against 39% who disagree with this, the survey showed. Most strikingly perhaps, only 31% of Germans feel they have a bigger responsibility for Israel due to their history — a core tenet of German foreign policy — while 62% do not. Germany's political establishment has cited its approach, known as the "Staatsraison," as a special responsibility for Israel after the Holocaust. The Staatsraison was laid out in 2008 by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Israeli parliament. Reflecting that stance days before his most recent trip to Israel in July, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told the Die Zeit newspaper that Berlin could not be a "neutral mediator." "Because we are partisan. We stand with Israel," he said, echoing similar statements by other conservative figures in Merz's party. But Merz's junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), had already been more explicit in wanting to put sanctions against Israel on the table. Adis Ahmetovic, an SPD foreign policy spokesperson, said suspending weapons shipments was only the first step. "More must follow, such as a full or partial suspension of the (European Union) Association Agreement or the medical evacuation of seriously injured children, in particular," Ahmetovic told Stern magazine. "Furthermore, sanctions against Israeli ministers must no longer be taboo." The deepening divide within Germany has also played out in its media landscape. In two major editorials published in late July, Der Spiegel magazine accused Israel of violating international humanitarian law and condemned what it said was the German government's complicity. The front cover displayed a picture of Gaza women holding out empty bowls with the headline: "A Crime." Meanwhile Bild, the mass-market daily owned by Axel Springer, Germany's largest media group, decried the lack of outrage toward Islamist Hamas whose cross-border assault on Israeli communities triggered the war, pointing to what it saw as growing anti-Israel sentiment and one-sided protests. Filipp Piatov, a Bild reporter whose X account is followed by Merz, accused the chancellor on Friday of doing exactly what he had criticized others for, "that Germany is cutting off support to its ally in the middle of a war." Israel denies having a policy of starvation in Gaza, and says Hamas, which killed some 1,200 people in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, could end the crisis by surrendering. Israel's ground and air war in Gaza has killed over 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Critics had argued that Germany's approach has been overly hesitant, weakening the West's collective ability to apply meaningful pressure for an end to the fighting and restrictions on humanitarian aid to the Israeli-besieged enclave. Germany had hitherto even been cautious about a modest sanction such as supporting the partial suspension of Israel's access to the EU's flagship research funding program. There are other reasons for Germany's reluctance to criticize Israel beyond its Nazi past, analysts say, including its strong trading relationship with Israel and the United States. Germany is Israel's second biggest weapons supplier after the U.S., but also buys arms from Israel as part of a massive revamp of its armed forces since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That includes the Arrow-3 missile interception system. Last week, Israeli defense company Elbit Systems announced a $260 million deal with Airbus to equip the German Air Force's A400M planes with directed infrared defense systems. "German arrogance should be avoided," Volker Beck, a former member of parliament and the head of the German-Israeli Society, said. "If Israel were to retaliate by restricting arms deliveries to Germany, the future of German air security would look grim."
NHK
12 hours ago
- NHK
UNSC to hold emergency meeting over Israel's plan to expand operations in Gaza
The UN Security Council is set to convene for an emergency meeting on Sunday following Israel's decision to expand its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Panama's permanent mission to the United Nations said on Friday that the meeting was requested by countries including Britain and France and supported by all Security Council members except the United States. Panama currently holds the presidency of the council. The meeting will discuss responses after the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that the country's security cabinet approved the plan to expand military operations in Gaza City, which is located in the northern part of the enclave. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed grave concern in a statement issued through a spokesperson on Friday. The statement said that "this further escalation will result in additional forced displacement, killings and massive destruction, compounding the unimaginable suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza." Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said that it is the duty of the international community to act. He went on to say that "enough is enough," and that there is no need for more killing and agonies. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon reacted sharply to the planned meeting, saying that Israel will not stop fighting for the release of all the hostages. He also said that "ensuring the safety and security of our citizens is our duty."
