Israel will face growing international pressure over Gaza war in weeks, foreign minister says

Israel will likely begin seeing increased international pressure in the coming few weeks to put an end to its war on Gaza, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Monday.

Some countries have already pulled their ambassadors from Israel or severed diplomatic or economic ties, including Bolivia, Colombia, South Africa, Jordan, and Bahrain.

Cohen said that there will likely be growing pressure on Israel from the international community in the coming weeks.

"We have two or three weeks until international pressure really steps up, but the foreign ministry is working to broaden the window of legitimacy, and the fighting will carry on for as long as necessary," Cohen said in a briefing to reporters.

As well as the kingdoms of Jordan of Bahrain, Israel shares ties with three other Arab states: Morocco, the UAE, and Egypt.

Cohen said he was working to minimise the impact of diplomatic moves against Israel but claimed that for now, the country still had "greater global understanding" for its war on Gaza due to hundreds of Israeli hostages, many of them dual nationals, being held by Hamas.

Israel has killed over 11,000 Palestinians in its indiscriminate war on Gaza, most of them women and children. It has flattened entire districts and targeted schools and hospitals.

"The world accepts that Israel will not stop until it frees the captives," Cohen added.

During Hamas' surprise attack on 7 October in southern Israel, the group took more than 200 hostages, allegedly to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. Some hostages have been released, but the group says others have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

The 7 October attack also killed around 1,200 people, according to Israel.

In the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel, and Israel’s ensuing bombardment of Gaza, there's much discussion, by experts & non-experts, about international humanitarian law.

So how exactly does international humanitarian law apply in Israel & Gaza? https://t.co/KXGMie5gch

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 4, 2023

Israel’s top diplomat added that some of his counterparts had made "discreet requests" for a ceasefire in Gaza in conversation with him. 

The human cost of the 39-day Israeli assault on Gaza is unprecedented. People have begun dying in hospitals as they run out of fuel and medical supplies with bodies piling up outside the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital.

Palestine demonstrations have been seen across the world, with hundreds of thousands marching on the streets of major cities in Europe and North America every weekend.

But Israel, which enjoys unwavering support from allies, such as the US and the UK, has insisted on continuing its military operations, saying it wants to dismantle Hamas. Palestinians say that the military assault has focused on civilian infrastructure instead of Hamas sites.

Cohen also stressed that Israel would have no trade connections with Gaza or allow people and workers to enter Israel from the enclave after the war is over.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said Israel would take control of Gaza, and that he had no trust in an international coalition to oversee security in the territory. But his statements have met with disapproval from allies.