The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada ganged up on Israel, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the military operation in Gaza as the terror group Hamas rejects one ceasefire offer after another.
On Monday night, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in ‘condemning’ Israel for the recent ramping up of the military offensive in southern Gaza.
“We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza,” a joint statement issued by the three leaders said. The condemnation comes three days after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major offensive in Gaza, named “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” with the twin goal of freeing the remaining hostages and finishing off Hamas as a terrorist fighting force.
The three leaders urged “the Israeli Government to stop its military operations in Gaza,” claiming that “this escalation is wholly disproportionate.”
“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions,” the joint statement added. “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu slammed the trio for seeking to reward the terror group Hamas by backing its demand for a ‘Palestinian state’ in the wake of the October 7 massacre.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader explained that the “war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarized.”
“No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t,” he observed.
The BBC reported the UK-led diplomatic move to pressure Israel:
[T]he United Kingdom and Canada (…) issued their strongest condemnation yet of the way Israel is fighting the war in Gaza.Israel, they say, must halt its new offensive, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says will destroy Hamas, rescue the remaining hostages and put all of Gaza under direct Israeli military control.Their statement dismisses Netanyahu’s arguments and calls for a ceasefire. Together, the three governments say that they “strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza” adding: “The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable.”They call for the release of the remaining hostages and recall that after the “heinous attack” on 7 October they believed that the Israeli state “had a right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate”.
The Israeli news website Arutz Sheva reported Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening issued a statement responding to the UK, Canada and France’s ultimatum to Israel to end the war in Gaza or face sanctions.“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” he said.“The war began on October 7 when Palestinian terrorists stormed our borders, murdered 1,200 innocent people and abducted over 250 more innocents to the dungeons of Gaza,” he added.“Israel accepts President Trump’s vision and urges all European leaders to do the same. The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarized. No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t,” Netanyahu stated.“This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved,” he concluded.
In what appears to be the first step towards punishing Israel, the British government, on Tuesday, suspended negotiations on a possible free trade deal with the country.
Foreign Secretary David “Lammy says the UK is suspending negotiations with the Israeli government on a new free trade agreement and is summoning the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, to the Foreign Office,” Sky News reported.
In response, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) called out the UK’s Labour government for halting talks that it had been pursuing half-heartedly. “Even prior to today’s announcement, the free trade agreement negotiations were not being advanced at all by the current UK government,” the MFA said in a statement.
Moreover, the UK would end up hurting its own economy by halting trade talks with the Start-Up Nation. “More than that, the agreement would serve the mutual benefit of both countries,” the Israeli foreign minister said. “If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its own prerogative.”
Britain, a former colonial master, no longer ruled over the region and was in no position to make demands on Israel as it fights for its survival against Islamic and Palestinian terrorism, the foreign ministry reminded. “The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago. External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction,” the MFA statement recalled.
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