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Britain, France and Canada called the Israeli plans for escalation “disproportionate” and “egregious” at a time when the U.N. is warning the population is at risk of famine.
Israel’s threats to drastically escalate the war in Gaza and its blockade of humanitarian aid to a Palestinian population at risk of famine have drawn the sharpest condemnation yet from some powerful Western allies since the conflict began 19 months ago.
On Tuesday, Britain said it was suspending talks with Israel on expanding a free-trade agreement. The day before, Britain, France and Canada had issued a rare public reprimand of Israel, demanding it cease the renewed military offensive.
“We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism,” a joint statement by the three countries said. “But this escalation is wholly disproportionate.”
The message made clear that Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, the high Palestinian death toll and the abysmal humanitarian conditions in Gaza were pushing some of the country’s most powerful international supporters to the limits of what they would tolerate.
Israel is threatening to take full control of Gaza in the next stage of the war and hem Gazans into even more limited zones. Israel has also been blocking humanitarian aid from Gaza for more than two months, even as the U.N. warns that the population is under threat of famine.
This weekend, Israel said it would begin allowing some humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. But the authorities let only five trucks in on Monday.
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