Israeli Foreign Ministry announces new diplomatic outreach amid Gaza war criticism: Report
The initiative aims to bring hundreds of international delegations to Israel before the year’s end “to help spread the Israeli narrative in international media”, The Times of Israel newspaper is reporting based on an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement.
“As part of the battle of perception against the global anti-Israel narrative,” Israel expects about 400 delegations – involving more than 5,000 participants – to visit by December, the newspaper quoted the ministry statement as saying. The plan is estimated to cost $40m, the report said.
In past years, the figure averaged just 25 delegations annually, the ministry added.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 62,000 people as the Israeli army continues to besiege the coastal enclave, creating a severe hunger crisis. On August 14, more than 100 aid organisations, including prominent groups such as Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Amnesty International, and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), condemned Israel’s weaponisation of aid, saying it was obstructing life-saving assistance from entering Gaza.
Israel’s Gaza City operation ‘beginning of ethnic cleansing’
The Israeli government’s move to push forward with its planned Gaza City offensive, without even discussing the latest ceasefire proposal that Hamas responded positively to, shows it has “no intention to put an end to the war”, says Gideon Levy, columnist for Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“There is no other way to explain it,” Levy told Al Jazeera. “There is a Hamas offer on the table and Israel hasn’t even discussed it yet.
“So, either they [Israel] want to put more pressure on Hamas, which I’m not sure is very probable, or they’re really serious about re-conquering Gaza City, pushing all the people to the south and then offering them to leave the Gaza Strip.
“That’s the beginning of an ethnic cleansing of Gaza,” Levy said.
Expanded war aims could further isolate Israel internationally
Haaretz newspaper columnist Gideon Levy says Israel’s expanded military operations in Gaza risk further alienating the country internationally, without any clear endgame in sight.
“The main risk is first of all operative,” Levy told Al Jazeera. “I don’t know how many fighters are still in Gaza and what kind of ammunitions and weapons they have.”
But above all, he said, is the risk of further reputational damage to Israel. “What will the world say if Israel continues the war instead of putting an end to it?” he told Al Jazeera, noting the country has already been acting as something of “a pariah state”.
“Meanwhile, within Israel, I see that there are a lot of protests, but very few refusing to serve in the army. And that’s really astonishing,” he added.
Only a phone call from the White House can stop Netanyahu
Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, says the families of captives have demonstrated “day and night”, and “have a lot of support in Israel, but … at the end of the day, this government continues with its plans”.
Speaking to Al Jazeera via videolink from Tel Aviv, he said there was only one thing that could stop Netanyahu from pressing ahead with the seizure of Gaza City “and that’s a phone call from the White House, but this phone call doesn’t seem to come”.
Levy added that the fact that Israel did not even discuss the ceasefire proposal is proof “that Israel is not interested in a deal right now, Israel is interested in continuing the war”.
“I don’t see anything within Israel stopping Netanyahu right now; he can do whatever he wants. The only thing that can really stop him is … Washington,” Levy said.
Israel's reputation is already done. The only thing not making it worse right now is continuing the genocide, that is preventing the worst evidence to come out. The previous ceasefire revealed many mass graves and the scale of destruction back then.
Occupation of the Gaza strip not only placates the far right, it also helps hide/destroy the evidence.
