Gaza War | Israel offers "humanitarian pauses in fighting"

The answers are the same as always: Shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron announced the recognition of Palestine as a state, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained on X, formerly Twitter, that this was a reward for terrorism. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed similar sentiments.

More than 130 states have now recognized Palestine, and in recent weeks, new ones have been joining in. Norway, Spain, and Ireland had already recognized Palestine on May 28. In mid-July, Israel's parliament therefore passed a resolution that roughly states what Netanyahu has now written. Just 77 of the 120 members of parliament participated. 68 voted in favor.

Even Merz criticizes the catastrophic social situation

Germany has not yet recognized Palestine . However, at a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, closer coordination on Middle East policy was agreed upon. On Sunday, the two then spoke jointly with Macron on the phone; there was "a great deal of agreement," the Federal Press Office announced. The next steps will be taken in close coordination in the coming days.

On Sunday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz also spoke directly with Benjamin Netanyahu by phone. "The Chancellor expressed his deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. He called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to do everything in his power to achieve a ceasefire immediately," said government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.

In Israel, criticism of the war in Gaza is growing louder: Recently, the leadership of the Israeli Medical Association demanded in a letter to the government and military that adequate medical care be provided for the people in the Gaza Strip. In recent days, tens of thousands have taken to the streets again to demonstrate for a hostage deal and for an end to the war.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government announced that fighting would cease during the day in many areas of the Gaza Strip to allow for the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid. At the same time, it emphasized that this is by no means a ceasefire. Furthermore, the military has now begun airdropping aid supplies, a very expensive, inefficient, and dangerous procedure: In similar operations, people have already been killed by the heavy pallets.

The famine in the Gaza Strip does indeed appear to have been triggered not primarily by a planned blockade, but by other factors. Hundreds of trucks are lined up at the Rafah border crossing; together with the stockpiles in Jordan, 5,000 truckloads are available at short notice. The Egyptian government also confirms that the border crossing is open. The problem, however, is that the corridors through the Gaza Strip are poorly coordinated, and there are no longer any clear contacts on the Palestinian side. Government structures have largely collapsed. Together with the US government, the Israeli government has done everything in its power to attack the UN refugee agency UNRWA. This has now also destroyed one of the main pillars of aid deliveries.

The future of the “humanitarian city” is open

Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether the "humanitarian city" announced by Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz in early July will go ahead: a tent camp is to be built on the ruins of Rafah, housing the entire population of Gaza. Exit will only be permitted abroad. Satellite images published by Al Jazeera actually showed bulldozers leveling large areas.

The criticism was widespread, even in Israel; former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke of a "concentration camp." Shortly thereafter, the plans disappeared from public view, but by that time the damage was already immense: Israel's government had lost legitimacy for its actions in the Gaza Strip in the international community; amid the constant stream of horror stories, the massacre of October 7, 2023, Hamas's years of armament, and the constant rocket fire against Israel, had lost significance in public consciousness.

Hamas, which established an autocratic regime in the Gaza Strip in just over 15 years, has now become a guerrilla organization. There are clear signs that the chains of command no longer function as they once did. Egyptian diplomats, who have been trying to negotiate a ceasefire since the beginning of the war, complain that it now takes several days to receive a response from the Hamas political bureau. And even then, there is no guarantee that the military wing, the Izz-een al-Qassam Brigades, will adhere to it.

With the increasing recognition of Palestine, the political structures of this state will soon come to the forefront: Mahmoud Abbas, now 89, has ruled Ramallah for 20 years using dictatorial means. His term of office ended in 2009, and the parliamentary term ended in 2010. The power struggle with Hamas has been going on for almost as long: Hamas won the parliamentary elections in 2006 and would thus have had the constitutional right to form a government. But most Western governments, as well as Israel, were strictly opposed and exerted pressure. Today, it seems virtually impossible that Abbas or either of his two potential successors have the capacity to form a truly functioning state, even if the Israeli occupation were to end.