Pressure on Israel to protect civilians

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Six months have now passed since the deadly attack by Hamas that prompted the latest Middle East war, and Israel is facing pressure on a number of fronts to end or adjust its military response.

The greatest of these is from key ally the United States, after a 30-minute conversation between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu included the clear message that more must be done to protect innocent civilians and aid workers. Biden went a step further than ever before by saying that America’s continued support of Israel hinged on these two issues.

With what looks like being a tight presidential election ahead, Biden does not want to lose any support — and polls show younger Democratic voters want an immediate ceasefire and full restoration of food aid.

This was prompted by the killing of seven food aid workers last week.

Israel’s military has said its troops made a series of “grave” mistakes and it has disciplined some staff, but that does not wash with many people. The governments of the aid workers, including Australia, are pressing for a more vigorous investigation.

Israel has lost a lot of support from people who were horrified by the initial brutal Hamas attack and believe in its right to defend itself, but are at least equally alarmed by the response which has seen 33,000 Palestinians killed, more than 20,000 of them civilians.

There is growing opposition within Israel also, with protests at the weekend calling for a ceasefire and the return of the remaining hostages — another one of whom has just been confirmed to have died. The protests were aimed squarely at Netanyahu, with calls for an early election.

Many observers are extremely worried at the potential for the conflict to spread, especially after the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus which saw seven officials killed, including a top commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iran has vowed revenge, saying Israel’s embassies are a target and producing a graph of nine missiles it says are capable of striking Israel.

Israel is already engaged in artillery exchanges with Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, on top of the present war with Hamas, which is another Iranian proxy.

In the meantime, Israel’s military announced it had withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, with these troops regrouping as the army prepares to move on Rafah, Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza.

With as many as 1 million refugees living in the area, an assault on Rafah would be catastrophic without a mass movement of civilians. It would probably mean Israel finally losing the struggle for public sympathy, if that has not already happened.