Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Abir Sutan/EPA.
More than 18 months into the US-sponsored genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, Netanyahu’s allies are urging him to halt his ‘egregious actions’
On 19 May, the governments of the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the ongoing military invasion of Gaza and end the blockade on humanitarian aid shipments.
“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. 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 statement reads.
The three western nations also urged Israel to engage with the UN to “ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles” and called on Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to “release immediately the remaining hostages they have so cruelly held since 7 October 2023.”
After more than a year and a half of consistently backing Israel’s campaign to kill, maim, and starve tens of thousands of Palestinians, London, Paris, and Ottawa on Monday asserted that the latest aid blockade “risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.”
“Israel suffered a heinous attack on 7 October. We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate,” the statement asserts, adding that the leaders of the three nations “will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions.”
The three nations also announced their commitment to “recognizing a Palestinian state” one month before the UN holds a French and Saudi-sponsored summit that will reportedly mark a “point of no return” for the so-called two-state solution.
In response to his allies’ about-face, Netanyahu’s office accused them of “offering a huge prize” for the Palestinian resistance and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
“This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved,” Netanyahu’s statement highlights.
Raging Genocide: Netanyahu Says ‘Israel’ Will ‘Control All of Gaza’ as Military Expands Ground Ops
Earlier in the day, the Washington Post reported that “Trump’s people” recently told the Israeli government, “We will abandon you if you do not end this war.” This comes one week after western media outlets said US President Donald Trump had “lost patience” with Netanyahu.
Despite the alleged tensions, the Israeli army has moved forward with its latest invasion of Gaza, codenamed ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots,’ as Netanyahu pledges to take total control of the besieged enclave.
The military operations in Gaza come as Israel partially lifted the aid blockade, allowing five trucks to enter Gaza, two of which were reportedly carrying shrouds instead of much-needed food and medicine.
Tel Aviv previously announced that 30 aid trucks would enter Gaza on Monday, a fraction of the more than 500 that the UN says the strip needed to sustain its population before the start of the genocide.
“Citizens in Gaza will get a pita and a plate of food, and that’s it,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday night, adding that Israeli troops are “annihilating everything that remains in the strip.”
“The population will flee south, then to third countries,” Smotrich stressed, endorsing President Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse the strip to build the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
