JERUSALEM: A series of diplomatic setbacks, strong condemnation of a recent Gaza strike, and intense protests on Western campuses have left Israelis feeling their country is unfairly isolated.
Israelis expected unwavering support from their allies and the international community after Hamas’s October 7 attack.
But as Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas in Gaza deepened, it seems to have lost the sympathy it initially received after the unprecedented attack.
This loss of support intensified following last week’s Israeli strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, which killed at least 45 people, according to Gazan officials. The military has denied targeting the camp.
The strike drew condemnations from Istanbul to Beijing and from Washington to Paris.
On social media platform Instagram, more than 47 million posts with the hashtag “All eyes on Rafah” have been recorded since the strike.
But Israelis remain defiant despite the growing isolation.
“I don’t think Israel should care what the world has to say... I support our military 100 percent,” Netanel Aronson, a 24-year-old Israeli-American, told AFP.
“I pray for them every day that they should be safe and come home.”
Rising death toll
At least 36,379 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza in Israeli bombardments and ground offensive since October 7, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run territory.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign came after the Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took 252 people as hostages, of which 121 are still held in Gaza, including 37 the military says are dead.
“It is a tragedy for everyone,” said Nathalie, who declined to give her last name, referring also to the fate of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Since everybody is connected, we can see what’s happening. We feel that we are hated,” the 50-year-old said.
“We have the feeling that we are accused of being colonialists and imperialists. But we see ourselves as refugees,” she added, echoing the feeling of many Jews who arrived during the creation of Israel in 1948.
The Palestinians call the creation of Israel as the Nakba — or “catastrophe” — when about 760,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes by the war over Israel’s creation.
Last month, Israel faced a series of diplomatic setbacks.
While the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its ongoing offensive in Rafah, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with three senior Hamas leaders.
Ireland, Norway and Spain also recognized a Palestinian state in a coordinated decision on Tuesday, while Slovenia’s parliament is due to vote on such a proposal next week.
Declining global support
Political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin said Israelis were aware the war was damaging their global standing.
“(Israelis) think the world is against Israel. They think that many institutions and countries are anti-Semitic, and that there is a double standard,” Scheindlin said.
She regretted the “devastating” impact of the war on Gazans, but said Israelis see the ongoing military campaign as an “existential struggle” for their people.
Scheindlin said Israelis have been demoralized over the setbacks at international tribunals after Israel was accused of committing some of the worst crimes in Gaza.
Such crimes “Israelis believed were only ever committed against them,” she added.
“So, it’s very hard for them to accept this. They fear the isolation.”
Israelis are also countering the social media campaign “All Eyes on Rafah,” with their own that says “If your eyes are on Rafah, then help us find the hostages.”
In a survey by US-based Pew Research Center before the May 26 strike on a camp of displaced people in Rafah, 40 percent of Israelis thought the country would “definitely” achieve its Gaza war goals.
Only four percent of the Jewish majority thought Israel’s military response in the Palestinian territory had gone “too far.”
But for Christians like Annie Dikbikian, the war has only increased “the hatred” on both sides.
“It’s affecting us... as Christians,” said the Jerusalem-based hairdresser, who hoped “peace, love, and respect” would return soon.
‘We are hated’: Israelis feel isolation over Gaza war
https://arab.news/juuhm
‘We are hated’: Israelis feel isolation over Gaza war
- Israel seems to have lost the sympathy it initially received after the unprecedented attack
- This loss of support intensified following last week’s Israeli strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah
Houthi media says US air strikes hit Sanaa
Houthi-held areas of Yemen have endured near-daily strikes, blamed on the United States, since Washington launched an air campaign against the militia on March 15 in an attempt to end their threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
“Fourteen air strikes carried out by American aggression hit the Al-Hafa area in the Al-Sabeen district in the capital,” the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV reported.
It also reported strikes blamed on the United States in the Hazm area of Jawf province.
The US campaign followed Houthi threats to resume their attacks on international shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Since March 15, the Houthis have also resumed attacks targeting US military ships and Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis began targeting ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as Israeli territory, after the Gaza war began in October 2023, later pausing their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire.
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at the beginning of March and resumed its offensive in the Palestinian territory on March 18, ending the truce.
The vital Red Sea route, connecting to the Suez Canal, normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, but the Houthi attacks forced many companies to make a long detour around the tip of southern Africa.
At least 8,000 missing in war-torn Sudan in 2024: Red Cross
PORT SUDAN: At least 8,000 people were reported missing in war-ravaged Sudan in 2024, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday, adding that the figure is just “the tip of the iceberg.”
“These are just the cases we have collected directly,” Daniel O’Malley, head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan, told AFP. “We know this is just a small percentage — the tip of the iceberg — of the whole caseload of missing.”
Qatar renews $60m grant for Lebanon army salaries
- The provisions were to enable Lebanon’s army to “carry out its national duties of maintaining stability”
- The Lebanese President arrived in Qatar on Tuesday
DOHA: Qatar is to renew a $60 million grant to pay the salaries of Lebanon’s army and provide 162 military vehicles, the two countries said on Wednesday following Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s first official visit to the Gulf state.
Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani “announced the renewal of the Qatari grant to support the salaries of the Lebanese army, amounting to USD 60 million, in addition to 162 military vehicles,” a joint statement said.
It added the provisions were to enable Lebanon’s army to “carry out its national duties of maintaining stability and controlling the borders throughout Lebanese territory.”
Aoun, who was elected in January after more than two years of caretaker government in Beirut, has been tasked with charting a course out of the country’s worst economic crisis and reconstruction after all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Lebanese President arrived in Qatar on Tuesday accompanied by foreign minister Youssef Raggi, and departed Doha on Wednesday afternoon, the official Qatar News Agency reported.
The Gulf state in February pledged support for reconstruction in Lebanon after the recent conflict and was already a provider of financial and in-kind support to the Lebanese army.
“Both sides emphasized the national role of the Lebanese army, the importance of supporting it, and the need to implement Resolution 1701 in all its provisions,” the joint statement added, urging “de-escalation in southern Lebanon.”
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November truce that largely ended more than a year of fresh hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
The resolution calls for the disarmament of all non-state armed groups and said Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon.
Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems “strategic.”
Maldives bans Israeli passport holders in protest against Gaza war
- Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu ratified an amendment to the country’s immigration law after it was passed by parliament on Tuesday
COLOMBO: The Maldives has banned Israeli passport holders from entering its territory, the president’s office said on Wednesday, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war, an allegation Israel has repeatedly denied.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu ratified an amendment to the country’s immigration law after it was passed by parliament on Tuesday, a statement from his office said.
The amendment introduces a new provision to the Immigration Act, expressly prohibiting the entry of visitors with Israeli passports into the Maldives, it added.
“The ratification reflects the Government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
The Israeli foreign ministry and the country’s consular office in Colombo did not respond to requests for comment.
Israel has consistently rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that prompted the war.
South Africa has brought a case against it at the UN’s International Court of Justice and Amnesty International accused it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in a report last December, charges it has denied.
Maldives’ Muizzu initially made the call to ban Israeli passport holders in June 2024 after a cabinet recommendation, which prompted the Israeli foreign ministry to recommend that its citizens avoid the archipelago famous for its pristine beaches and plush resorts.
Tourism is a major driver of the Maldives economy, accounting for about 21 percent of its GDP and earning $5.6 billion in 2024, according to government data. The island nation is expecting earnings of about $5 billion this year.
Jordan briefs Lebanon on investigation into terrorist cell
- Beirut unsure if Lebanese citizens involved in missile-making group
- Army intelligence arrests 2 Palestinians for smuggling weapons across Lebanon-Syria border
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was briefed by Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday on the results of investigations into a missile manufacturing cell uncovered in Jordan, two members of which had been sent to Lebanon for training.
According to his media office, Aoun expressed Lebanon’s “full readiness for coordination and cooperation” between the two countries and instructed Justice Minister Adel Nassar to work with his Jordanian counterpart, in cooperation with the security and judicial agencies, on the investigations and the exchange of information.
A judicial source told Arab News that Lebanese army intelligence was “following up on the case of the terrorist cell and we do not yet know whether any Lebanese individuals are involved.”
“This agency has requested Jordan to provide it with information regarding the investigations, to rely on the Lebanese investigations and in the event any Lebanese involvement is proven, the matter will then be referred to the Lebanese judiciary,” the person said.
In a parallel development, Lebanon’s army intelligence said it had arrested two Palestinians in the southern city of Sidon for “trading in and smuggling military weapons across the Lebanese-Syrian border and seized several weapons and military ammunition in their possession.”
The army command said the detainees were being investigated under the supervision of the judiciary.
Media reports said the pair were members of the security apparatus of the Hamas movement in Sidon.
No official security agency has confirmed a link between the arrests and the Jordanian cell.
The Jordan News Agency on Tuesday quoted intelligence officials as saying that “a series of plots targeting the country’s national security were thwarted and 16 individuals suspected of planning acts of chaos and sabotage were arrested.”
The plans involved the production of missiles using local materials and imported components. Explosives and firearms were discovered, along with a concealed missile that was ready for use, the report said.
The 16 suspects are thought to have been engaged in efforts to develop drones, recruit and train individuals domestically and send others abroad for further training.
According to the suspects’ statements, two members of the cell — Abdullah Hisham and Muath Al-Ghanem — were sent to Lebanon to coordinate with a prominent figure in the organization and receive training.
In December, the Lebanese army initiated a process to disarm Palestinian factions located outside Palestinian refugee camps. The factions were loyal to the former Syrian regime and mostly based in the Bekaa region along the border with Syria and the southern region.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed Lebanon’s “full solidarity with Jordan in confronting schemes that threaten its security and stability” and its “readiness to cooperate with Jordanian authorities as necessary regarding information that some of those involved in these plots received training in Lebanon,” according to his media office.
At the launch of the Beirut Airport Road Rehabilitation Project, Salam said that security issues on the airport road were “being worked on with Defense Minister Michel Menassa and Interior Minister Ahmed Hajjar.”
In the past 48 hours, the Beirut Municipality has undertaken efforts to remove party flags and images of politicians and party leaders, particularly those associated with Hezbollah, from the streets of the capital.
