As the Israeli bombardment of Gaza entered its 11th day — killing more than 2,800 Palestinians and leaving 11,000 wounded — world leaders’ and prominent politicians’ reactions to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave of 2.3m people continued to pour in.
‘There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state’
“There needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,” US President Joe Biden said in an interview given to CBS TV show 60 Minutes on Sunday.
Biden’s support for Palestinian statehood came almost a week after the Oct 7 Hamas attack. The US president had previously only affirmed his unconditional support for Israel.
“I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of Israel.”
In a separate post on his X account on October 7, Biden offered support and reiterated his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security in the aftermath of the shock Hamas blitz that left 1,300 Israelis dead in the deadliest single day in Israel’s 75-year history.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that controls Gaza.
‘Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people’
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a post on his X account, said “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people or the future they want” as he announced an increase in UK aid to Palestinian civilians with an additional £10 million of support. “Palestinians are victims of Hamas too.”
In an earlier post, he called for working with “regional leaders, the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, to prevent further escalation in the wider Middle East”.
Earlier, he had stated that: “As the barbarity of today’s atrocities becomes clearer, we stand unequivocally with Israel … We have expressed our full solidarity to Netanyahu and will work with international partners in the next 24 hours to co-ordinate support.”
Britain had also decided to deploy two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and reinforce regional stability, Downing Street said last week.
‘Catastrophic increase in civilian victims’
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed intentions of facilitating a ceasefire in the region. The Kremlin statement said Putin had voiced concern in his calls about “a catastrophic increase in the number of civilian victims and the aggravation of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
Putin said he was ready to “coordinate efforts with all constructive partners to put an end to hostilities and stabilise the situation as quickly as possible”
He also told the Israeli president of the steps Russia has taken to “promote the normalisation of the situation, prevent a further escalation of violence and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.”
‘Ceasefire imperative’
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi also called for a ceasefire to stop the bloodshed, at a meeting with his Russian counterpart on Monday.
“It is imperative that a ceasefire be put in place, that the two sides be brought back to the negotiating table, and that an emergency humanitarian channel be established to prevent a further humanitarian disaster”, he said.
Pakistan’s interim Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, has strongly denounced the Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip under siege, calling it a “genocide” against Palestinians while addressing a press conference on Sunday.
He also said that “any attempt to equate Israel, which is an aggressor, with the Palestinian struggle, is unacceptable for Pakistan.”
‘Unimpeded humanitarian access essential’
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau stated that Canada is deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
“Unimpeded humanitarian access is essential to address the urgent needs of civilians. Canada calls for international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, to be respected,” Trudeau said.
His remarks came days after the prime minister had extended his unequivocal support for Israel’s government.
The remarks come as Israel prepares for an on-ground offence against the Hamas fighter north of the Gaza Strip, consequently, Israel’s army has told 1.1 million Palestinians in the north — nearly half of its 2.4-million population — to head south to safety.
Israel had cut off water, fuel and food supplies to Gaza and local hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with increasing numbers of dead and injured
More than one million people have fled their homes in Gaza in scenes of chaos and despair as Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled territory and continued massing troops on Tuesday in preparation for a full-blown ground invasion.
‘Redouble efforts’ to ensure support reaches Gaza
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU will be tripling its humanitarian aid for vulnerable civilians in Gaza and the wider region.
“We will redouble efforts to ensure this support reaches those who need it,” she said in a post on X.
In an Oct 7 post, she stated that the EU mourned the “victims of these senseless attacks and stands by Israel today and in the next weeks”.
‘We do not support genocides’
Colombian President Gustavo Petro expressed support for Gaza and shared a picture stating, “In Colombia, we do not support genocides,” on his official X account.
In a separate tweet, he drew a comparison between the atrocities that Palestinians have been facing since 1948 with the immense injustices Jewish people suffered at the hands of Nazis in Europe in the 1930s.
“If I had lived in Germany in 1933, I would have fought on the side of the Jews and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948, I would have fought on the Palestinian side,” he said.
Furthermore, in response to Israel calling his statements “hostile and antisemitic” and announcing to stop security exports to the South American country, the Columbian leader said that “if foreign relations with Israel must be suspended, let’s suspend them”.
‘Serious violation of human rights’
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for a ceasefire and an international humanitarian intervention “to put an end to the most serious violation of human rights in the conflict in the Middle East.”
“Hamas must release Israeli children who have been kidnapped from their families. Israel must cease bombing so that Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza Strip across the border with Egypt. There needs to be a minimum of humanity in the insanity of war,” he wrote in a statement shared on his X account.
The country’s Foreign Minister Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira expressed deep concern over the Israeli forces’ demand that over a million civilians in northern Gaza evacuate within 24 hours.
Speaking following a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Friday, Vieira cited the UN’s warning that such a massive displacement could result in “unprecedented levels of misery” calling for an end to hostilities from both sides.
‘War, violence must stop immediately’
In his statement, the President of Indonesia called “for the war and violence to be stopped immediately to avoid further human casualties and destruction of property because the escalation of the conflict can cause greater humanitarian impact”.
“The root cause of the conflict, which is the occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel, must be resolved immediately in accordance with the parameters that have been agreed upon by the United Nations,” he further stated.
‘Israel can defend itself but don’t have right to breach international law’
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar criticised Israel for discontinuing the supply of water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, labelling this move as a breach of international humanitarian law.
“Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they don’t have the right to breach international humanitarian law,” he said in an interview with Prime Time on Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ.
“To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, that’s not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself,” he added.
‘Just struggle’
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa showed solidarity with the Palestinian cause and emphasised that his country has always stood up for the “just struggle”.
“We do pledge our solidarity with the Palestinians,” he said while wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh around his shoulders — a symbol of Palestinian resistance.
“We have always insisted that the only solution for the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Palestine is a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders as approved by the world community and the United Nations,” Ramaphosa added.
‘Horrendous living conditions’
US Senator Bernie Sanders, who was a US presidential candidate in the 2016 and 2020 elections, said on his X account that “Gaza has been an open-air prison, with millions of people struggling to secure basic necessities”.
“For years, people of goodwill throughout the world, including some brave Israelis, have struggled against the blockade of Gaza, the daily humiliations of occupation in the West Bank, and the horrendous living conditions faced by so many Palestinians,” Sanders stated.
‘War criminal’
General Secretary Ione Belarra of Podemos — a left-wing political party in Spain — stated in a video message posted on her X account that the EU must stop being complicit with a “war criminal” like Netanyahu.
“Israel has already carried out mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under the fog of war,” said Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967.
“Again, in the name of self-defence, Israel is seeking to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing.
“Any continued military operations by Israel have gone well beyond the limits of international law. The international community must stop these egregious violations of international law now before tragic history is repeated,” she said.
“Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity,” said United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
“We all know water is life — Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life,” he said.
‘Brutal war’
Kuwait’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah strongly condemned “the Israeli occupation’s calls for the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and the continued escalation, killings and random destruction, which is a violation of international” in his official statement.
He called for “ the international community and the Security Council to intervene immediately to stop this dangerous escalation and put an end to this brutal war that does not differentiate between civilian and military targets“.
‘Horrific images, tragic accounts coming out of Gaza’
Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt said that “there are horrific images and tragic accounts coming out of Gaza now. The scale of suffering and destruction is enormous. According to the UN, almost 500 children have been killed. This is completely unacceptable. Norway is now providing an additional 70 million Norwegian Krones (Rs.1,763,028,125) in humanitarian support for the civilian population in Gaza.”
“Israel has a right of self-defence under international law to take necessary and proportionate measures to prevent the supply of arms and other means of attack to Gaza.
“However, all self-defence measures must be carried out in line with international humanitarian law. Civilians must be protected. The consequences for civilians of Israel’s attacks on Gaza are totally unacceptable. Norway condemns Israel’s announced full blockade of Gaza,” Huitfeldt stated.
