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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Two weeks after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel, the Middle East is on the edge of an abyss. As Israeli forces prepare for an expected land assault on Gaza to crush the militant group, the plight of Palestinians trapped in the strip is catastrophic.
The explosion that killed hundreds of Palestinians at a hospital in Gaza this week enraged the US’s Arab allies, although both the US and Israel blame the explosion on a misfired Palestinian rocket. Jordan cancelled a summit with Arab partners and the US as the conflict dangerously stokes tensions across the region.
A complex balancing act is required. America and western democracies must offer succour to a traumatised ally, assist in bolstering its defences and deterring other enemies from joining Hamas in the war. They must also urge Israel to hold back from actions that could lead to yet more civilian loss of life. Getting the balance wrong can inflame tensions not just across the Middle East, but among communities at home.
The west’s attitude towards the Israel-Hamas war also has a significant impact on emerging economies that western democracies have urged to join in condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The perception of western double standards that is already setting in is a gift for Moscow and Beijing.
The scale of Hamas’s atrocities during the October 7 attacks meant the west’s initial response had to be to “hug Israel close”. The grieving nation lost 1,400 people, and another 200 were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
But early perceptions that the west had given Israel a green light to retaliate unconditionally have done damage elsewhere. Many countries in the Muslim world and beyond questioned why similar sympathy was not shown for Palestinians civilians in Gaza killed by Israeli retaliatory bombardment — whose number Palestinian health officials say tops 4,100. If Russia’s cutting off of food, water and power to Ukrainian cities is a war crime, they ask, why not Israel’s siege tactics in Gaza?
Israel has the right to protect its citizens and defend itself. But careful western calibration of words and actions, and co-ordinating stances, should be paramount. As a group of eminent British lawyers wrote in a letter to the Financial Times this week, holding a population under siege, depriving them of the basic necessities, is a grave violation of international law.
By the end of the first week, western capitals had begun to align around private messages urging Israel to protect the 2.3mn civilians suffering in Gaza. They must now ensure that these are maximally applied and that they are heard in public too.
During a visit to Tel Aviv this week, US president Joe Biden appeared to strike the right tone, combining compassion and support with warnings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to let blind rage drive Israel to repeat the mistakes of the US after the 9/11 attacks. Biden understands that the “war on terror” unleashed chaos across the Middle East and eroded America’s global standing.
The US president also secured an agreement from Israel to allow a small amount of urgently needed aid to enter Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. However, none had yet crossed the border from Egypt by Friday.
With Israel expected to launch a land invasion of the densely populated strip, Biden and other western leaders must remind Netanyahu of his obligations under the laws of war. If not, they will be guilty of not practising the principles they preach: international law cannot be a commodity the west supports when it is convenient, but discards when it is not.