Photo: AP
Shortly after Israel's announcement that aid trucks had entered Gaza, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada released a strongly critical joint statement.
They described the level of aid as severely insufficient and warned that they might take concrete actions against Israel, potentially including sanctions, in response to its actions in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The countries also expressed serious concern over what they described as alarming new military operations by Israel in Gaza.
In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly criticized the statement, arguing that it effectively rewarded what he referred to as the brutal assault Israel experienced on October 7.
Meanwhile, Israel intensified its military campaign over the weekend with new air and ground assaults throughout Gaza. The military also issued evacuation orders for Khan Younis, the territory's second-largest city, which had already sustained extensive damage from a previous major offensive earlier in the 19-month war.
Israel has stated that its ongoing military pressure on Gaza is aimed at compelling Hamas to release the hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.
However, Hamas has maintained that it will only consider releasing the captives if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza.
Netanyahu reiterated on Monday that Israel intends to establish full control over the entire Gaza Strip. He also reaffirmed his support for encouraging what he terms the voluntary relocation of a large portion of Gaza's population to other countries—an idea that has been firmly rejected by Palestinians.
In a video message, Netanyahu acknowledged that some of Israel’s closest allies had expressed serious concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
According to him, these allies warned that they could not tolerate widespread images of starvation and would find it difficult to continue their support under such conditions.
While the Trump administration has consistently backed Israel’s military campaign and placed responsibility for the casualties in Gaza on Hamas, it has also begun voicing concern about the worsening hunger crisis.
Both President Donald Trump—who notably excluded Israel from his recent regional tour—and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have voiced concern over the severity of the situation.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s video message appeared to be directed at calming frustration among his nationalist supporters, many of whom oppose the renewed delivery of humanitarian aid. Two of his far-right coalition partners have been pressuring him to block aid shipments into Gaza entirely, AP reported.
Meanwhile, the joint statement from France, Canada, and the United Kingdom represented one of their strongest rebukes of Israel’s conduct in the conflict so far. They reiterated their opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements, labelling them as violations of international law.
Canada has already implemented several rounds of sanctions targeting Israel in response to settler violence in the West Bank over the past two years. France's ability to act unilaterally on similar measures remains uncertain, as it is bound by European Union policy.
Separately, the foreign ministers of Germany, Italy, Japan, and 18 other nations—excluding the United States—issued a letter on Monday urging Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid channels to Gaza, specifically through the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.
Israel's 19-month genocidal war has killed over 53,339 Palestinians, primarily women and children, and injured at least 121,034. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the revised death toll stands at 61,700, with thousands of people missing under the rubble presumed dead.
The ongoing war has forced the displacement of approximately 90% of Gaza’s population, with many residents having been uprooted multiple times.