‘Dangerous': World reacts to huge Gaza move
For US President Donald Trump, it's up to Israel to decide what to do next in the region — meaning Washington is offering quiet support for its ally's plans to expand the offensive in the war-wracked Palestinian territory.
While numerous European and Arab capitals urged Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to reconsider his decision to 'take control' of Gaza City, President Trump this week has effectively given the Israeli prime minister free rein — even if it means pushback from the international community.
After nearly two years of devastating conflict, Israel's security cabinet approved Netanyahu's plan to 'defeat' Hamas, which triggered the war with its October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Before Israel's announcement, when asked if he could support such a plan, President Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he was focused on securing an increase in the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza to help starving Palestinians.
'As far as the rest of it, I really, I really can't say — that's going to be pretty much up to Israel,' President Trump said.
Then on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed that position, telling Catholic TV network EWTN, 'Ultimately, what Israel needs to do for Israel's security will be determined by Israel.'
President Trump and Mr Rubio's comments speak volumes about the US strategy: since Israel-Hamas talks on a ceasefire in Gaza fell apart, Washington has broadly embraced Israel's views following US envoy Steve Witkoff's visit last week.
Details of Mr Witkoff's meeting with Mr Netanyahu have not been made public, but it is hard to imagine that President Trump's emissary was not briefed on Israel's plans.
While Washington has amped up the pressure on Israel to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, it has also insisted that all Israeli hostages — dead or alive — be freed from Hamas captivity and the complete annihilation of the militant group.
'Our goals are very clear,' US Vice President JD Vance said Friday during talks with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
'We want to make it so that Hamas cannot attack innocent Israeli civilians ever again, and we think that has to come through the eradication of Hamas.' Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has offered Israel iron-clad support, even while pushing for better humanitarian support.
He seemed to throw in the towel on securing a ceasefire following repeated failed efforts at mediation, especially after talks crumbled late last month in Doha when Hamas refused a deal to free the hostages.
Hamas still has 49 Israeli hostages abducted during the October 2023 attack, 27 of whom are presumed dead.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee — who is prone to making eyebrow-raising statements — slammed all criticism of Israel's plans for Gaza.
'So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved?' Mr Huckabee wrote on social media.
'Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them?' he said in response to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called Netanyahu's approach 'wrong.' In his interview with EWTN, Rubio said 'as long as Hamas exists, particularly exists as an armed organisation, there will never be peace in Gaza.'
Mr Rubio said he understood why the famine facing Palestinians in the territory was getting 'almost all the media coverage' but lamented what he called a lack of attention to the plight of the remaining Israeli hostages.
In recent weeks, Washington has sharply criticised international initiatives to formally recognise a Palestinian state, led notably by French President Emmanuel Macron, warning that it emboldens Hamas not to give up.
World reacts to Israel's huge Gaza move
Nations around the world on Friday condemned Israel's plan to wrest control of Gaza City, saying it would only worsen the conflict and lead to more bloodshed.
Here is a roundup of global reactions:
UN: 'dangerous escalation'
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Israel's plan was a 'dangerous escalation' that risked worsening conditions for ordinary Palestinians.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the plan must be 'immediately halted'. Israel should instead allow 'the full, unfettered flow of humanitarian aid' and Palestinian armed groups must unconditionally release hostages, he added.
Diplomatic sources told AFP several countries had requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the Israeli plans.
EU: 'consequences' for Israel ties
'The Israeli government's decision to further extend its military operation in Gaza must be reconsidered,' European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.
She called for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and 'immediate and unhindered access' for humanitarian aid in Gaza.
European Council president Antonio Costa warned that 'such a decision must have consequences' for EU-Israel ties.
'The situation in Gaza remains dramatic, and the decision by the Israeli government will only further worsen it,' he posted on X.
Hamas: 'War crime'
Hamas denounced the Israeli government's plan as 'a new war crime that the occupation army intends to commit against' Gaza and warned that the operation would 'cost it dearly'.
Iran: 'Genocide'
In Hamas's backer Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Israel's plan was 'another clear sign of the Zionist regime's specific intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza and commit genocide against the Palestinians'.
China: Gaza for Palestinians
'Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory,' a foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP.
'The correct way to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to secure the release of hostages is an immediate ceasefire.'
Germany: arms exports cut
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was 'increasingly difficult to understand' how the Israeli military plan would help achieve legitimate aims.
'Under these circumstances, the German government will not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice,' he added.
UK: 'More bloodshed'
'This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages,' Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, adding that it would 'only bring more bloodshed'.
France: 'Dead end'
'Such actions would constitute further serious violations of international law and lead to a complete dead end,' France's foreign ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
'They would undermine the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians to live in peace within a viable, sovereign and contiguous state, and pose a threat to regional stability.'
Turkey: International pressure
Turkey urged global pressure to halt the plan.
'We call on the international community to fulfil its responsibilities to prevent the implementation of this decision, which aims to forcibly displace Palestinians from their own land,' said a foreign ministry statement.
Spain: 'Destruction and suffering'
'We firmly condemn the decision of the Israeli government to escalate the military occupation of Gaza,' said Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. 'It will only cause more destruction and suffering.' He added that 'a permanent ceasefire, the immediate and massive entry of humanitarian aid, and the release of all hostages are urgently needed'.
Saudi Arabia: 'Ethnic cleansing'
The foreign ministry wrote on X that Riyadh 'categorically condemns its persistence in committing crimes of starvation, brutal practices, and ethnic cleansing against the brotherly Palestinian people'.
Jordan: Palestinians' rights
A statement issued by the Royal Court said King Abdullah condemned a move 'which undermines the two-state solution and the rights of the Palestinian people'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Israel cops flak over military expansion in Gaza
International condemnation is growing over Israel's decision for a military takeover of Gaza City, while little appeared to change immediately on the ground in the territory shattered by 22 months of war. The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Sunday morning in New York. Health officials said that 11 Palestinians seeking aid were shot dead, and 11 adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours. US special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet with Qatar's prime minister in Spain on Saturday to discuss a new proposal to end the war, according to two officials familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Mediators Egypt and Qatar are preparing a new ceasefire framework that would include the release of all hostages — dead and alive — in one go in return for the war's end and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, two Arab officials have told The Associated Press. Families of hostages were rallying again on Saturday evening to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There are fears for the fate of the 50 remaining hostages, with 20 of them thought to be alive and struggling. "The living will be murdered and the fallen will be lost forever," if the offensive goes ahead, said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza. A joint statement by nine countries, including Germany, Britain, France and Canada, said that they "strongly reject" Israel's decision for the large-scale military operation, saying it will worsen the "catastrophic humanitarian situation," endanger hostages and further risk mass displacement. A separate statement by more than 20 countries, including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, called Israel's decision a "dangerous and unacceptable escalation". Meanwhile, Russia said Israel's plan will aggravate the "already extremely dramatic situation" in Gaza. And Germany has said it won't authorise any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza until further notice. Officials at Nasser and Awda hospitals said that Israeli forces killed at least 11 people seeking aid in southern and central Gaza. Some had been waiting for aid trucks, while others had been approaching aid distribution points. Israel's military denied opening fire and said that it was unaware of the incidents. The military secures routes leading to distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed and US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Two witnesses told the AP that Israeli troops fired toward crowds approaching a GHF distribution site on foot in the Netzarim corridor, a military zone that bisects Gaza. One witness, Ramadan Gaber, said that snipers and tanks fired on aid-seekers, forcing them to retreat. In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, some aid-seekers cheered the latest airdrops of aid. Hundreds of people rushed to grab what they could, though many have called the process degrading. Aid organisations have called airdrops expensive, insufficient and potentially dangerous for people on the ground. Israel's military said that at least 106 packages of aid were airdropped on Saturday as Italy and Greece joined the multi-country effort for the first time. Footage from Italy's defence ministry showed not only packages being parachuted over Gaza but the dry and devastated landscape below. "This way is not for humans, it is for animals," said one man at the scene, Mahmoud Hawila, who said he was stabbed while trying to secure an airdropped package. Barefoot children collected rice, pasta and lentils that had spilled from packages onto the ground.
Daily Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Head of US military approvingly shares views of pastor who thinks women shouldn't be allowed to vote
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News. The man President Donald Trump chose to lead the US military has come under fire for sharing, in apparent approval, remarks by the leader of a radical church network who thinks women should be stripped of the right to vote, among other fringe ideas. Pete Hegseth, whom Mr Trump plucked from his job as a TV host to make him Secretary of Defence, posted a clip of a CNN segment featuring Doug Wilson, a Christian nationalist and the self-appointed leader of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. 'All of Christ for All of Life,' wrote the Defence Secretary, who has publicly praised Mr Wilson in the past. The video Mr Hegseth shared mostly featured Mr Wilson, a pastor with an international network spanning more than 150 churches, though some other members of his church were also interviewed. The pastor defended his vision of a patriarchal society in which men are dominant and women submit to their husbands. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Picture: Cliff Owen/AP 'Women are the kind of people that people come out of,' Mr Wilson said. 'So you just think they're here to have babies. That's it? They're just a vessel?' interviewer Pamela Brown asked. 'No, it isn't. It doesn't take any talent to simply reproduce biologically,' said Mr Wilson. 'The wife and mother, who is the chief executive of the home, is entrusted with three, or four, or five eternal souls.' Ms Brown pointed out that she was both a working woman and a mother of three children. 'Is that an issue for you?' she asked. 'No it's not automatically an issue,' said Mr Wilson. Mr Wilson speaking to CNN. Pamela Brown's reaction to his description of women as 'people that people come out of'. Mr Hegseth attended the opening of Mr Wilson's latest church last month, which happens to be in Washington D.C., right at the centre of power in America's federal government. Sean Parnell, chief spokesman for the Pentagon, told The Associated Press the Defence Secretary was 'a proud member of a church' affiliated with Mr Wilson's network and 'very much appreciates many of Mr Wilson's writings and teachings'. Those teachings include the idea that the United States should become a Christian theocracy, with other religions driven out of public spaces – he has explained in the past that he thinks Muslims, for example, should still be able to pray in private, but mosques should not be allowed in American cities. In addition to that, he wants non-Christians to be barred from holding public office. Mr Wilson also believes women should not be able to vote, and he thinks homosexuality should be criminalised, as it was decades ago. In a book, which he wrote in the 1990s, he claimed slavery in America's South 'was not an adversarial relationship with pervasive racial animosity'. 'There has never been a multiracial society which has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world,' he wrote. 'The credit for this must go to the predominance of Christianity. 'In spite of the evils contained in the system, we cannot overlook the benefits of slavery for both blacks and whites. 'Slavery produced in the South a genuine affection between the races that we believe we can say has never existed in any nation before the War or since.' The 'war' in question, of course, being the American Civil War. Writing in 2020, Mr Wilson conceded there had been 'abuses' under slavery, but insisted 'the benevolent master is not a myth'. Mr Hegseth. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP In the clip Mr Hegseth shared, CNN interviewed a few members of Mr Wilson's church, such as Josh and Amy Prince, who travelled across the US to join. 'He is the head of our household, yes, and I do submit to him,' Amy Prince said of Josh. Toby Sumpter, a pastor, said that 'in my idea society, we would vote as households', with the father ultimately deciding. 'I would ordinarily be the one that would cast the vote, but I would cast the vote having discussed it with my household,' he said. Another pastor, Jared Longshore said he would support repealing the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, passed in 1920, which granted women the right to vote. And Mr Wilson said that 'yep', he would like to go back to the era when 'sodomoy' was illegal in the United States. 'I'm not a white nationalist, I'm not a fascist, I'm not a racist, I'm not a misogynist,' he said. 'I'd like to see the town be a Christian town. I'd like to see the state be a Christian state. I'd like to see the nation be a Christian nation. I'd like to see the world be a Christian world. 'Every society is theocratic. The only question is whose 'theo'. In a secular society, it would be deimos, the people. In a Christian republic it would be Christ.' Originally published as Head of US military approvingly shares views of pastor who thinks women shouldn't be allowed to vote
The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
Israeli intelligence has helped the West
Israel's furious reaction to Sir Keir's move underlines one of the disadvantages of acting hastily to recognise a non-existent state, the future of which is up in the air, without borders or leadership, in defiance of a longstanding democratic ally. In recent years Israeli intelligence has given crucial help to Britain's spy agencies about Iranian-backed threats that pose as big a danger to the UK as Russia does. Mossad, Israel's highly effective spy agency, is believed to have supplied crucial information that thwarted an alleged Iranian-linked terrorist plot in London. It led to two of the largest counter-terror raids in Britain in recent years, when five men were arrested in connection to an alleged plan to target the Israeli embassy in Kensington, west London, The Times reports. In Australia in February 2018, Peter Dutton, the Coalition government's home affairs minister, thanked Israeli authorities for an intelligence tip-off that helped police stop a terrorist plot to blow up an Etihad Airways flight leaving Sydney bound for Abu Dhabi in July 2017. The plot involved smuggling a bomb inside a meat grinder on to the plane. 'This Etihad flight was almost blown out of the sky and it would have resulted in hundreds of people losing their lives, so we are very grateful for the assistance Israel provided in that matter,' Mr Dutton said. Israel's intelligence gathering had 'enormous' capacity, he said, and its relationship with ASIO and the Australian Federal Police was important. It should not be taken lightly. And the news on Friday that the Israeli cabinet has ratified Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial and risky plan to occupy Gaza for about five months does not negate the folly of Western nations' moving towards recognising a Palestinian state prematurely. Mr Netanyahu's plan involves evacuating Gaza City and sending a million people into temporary humanitarian facilities to be set up by Israel further south. Mr Albanese has said Australian recognition would be dependent on several conditions, namely that Hamas had no role in a future Palestinian government and that a Palestinian state would not pose a security risk to Israel. Yet, as Greg Sheridan writes in Inquirer, 'those conditions mean a resolution of all the final status issues, in which case Australian recognition wouldn't come until a peace deal was signed between Israel and Palestine'. Hamas's triumphalist response to Britain's plan to recognise a non-existent Palestinian state – claiming 'the fruits of October 7' had been vindicated – shows the terror group is not planning to go away, despite being heavily depleted by Israel. And its raison d'etre is destruction of the Jewish state. Given those obstacles, and the importance of our bilateral relationship with Israel, Australia has no reason to blindly follow France, Britain and Canada at the UN General Assembly next month and push ahead with recognition of a Palestinian state. As Mr Albanese says, his government makes decisions on behalf of Australia, a sovereign nation. He has long wanted to see Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in peace and security, in a two-state solution. That major step must be taken at an optimal time, which is not now. Diminution of democratic nations' relationships, including intelligence sharing, with Israel – a stalwart of the Western alliance for 75 years, – would be a detrimental rupture for the free world.
