ANALYSIS - 150 days of war on Gaza: West’s support wavers as Israel kills over 30,000 Palestinians

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - “Israel has a right to defend itself” has been one of the common defenses put forth by Western countries since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 last year.

The unprecedented attack indeed shocked the whole world, including the Israeli intelligence and security services, leaving more than 1,000 people dead, while over 250 people were taken hostage.

A sudden and unwavering chain of support messages quickly appeared in the form of official statements, social media posts and visits to Tel Aviv from top Western officials.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were among the first senior Western officials to arrive in the Israeli capital, condemning Hamas and expressing support for Israel’s “right to defend itself” as the Israeli army, in retaliation, started pounding the Gaza Strip with its most advanced weapons and prepared for a ground incursion into the north of the enclave after ordering around 1 million civilians to leave for the south.

While the US government seemed to be united in its traditional promotion of Israel’s rights, officials from some EU countries, including Ireland and Spain, began to distance themselves from von der Leyen, saying she did not represent the opinion of their countries when she did not call for a cease-fire in the early days of Israel’s deadly war, which to date has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly women and children.

- Germany, UK and France

The word “cease-fire” was almost immediately banned from all German platforms, alongside protests calling for one as the Israeli assault in Gaza started.

A group of conservative politicians repeatedly called for stricter enforcement of Germany's antisemitism laws against the marches, which since then have been banned unless they are “authorized.”

The government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not call for a cease-fire until before Christmas. But when the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes piled high, they felt they were obliged to do so. Even then, Germany failed to call for an "immediate" cease-fire.

The UK, a country adopting their US partner’s foreign policies in almost every matter, also called for a “cease-fire” around the same time as Germany, but it was not also for an "immediate" truce.

Similar to Germany, the majority leading Tories, including the country’s first Hindu prime minister, Rishi Sunak, still highlighted Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

Taking the rhetoric a step further, in October last year, then Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who is known for her far-rightist attitude – not only in this matter but also in other policies, including the controversial Rwanda plan – described protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza “hate marches” and urged the police to ban them.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock late in December called for a "sustainable cease-fire," but the word “immediate,” which would potentially minimize unnecessary killings, was missing.

France’s approach to the conflict was the first to change in late December, with Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna calling for an "immediate and durable truce" in the Israel-Hamas war, saying it is deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza. She said that too many civilians were being killed.

But Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen rejected her calls, saying that a cease-fire would be an error and a gift to Hamas.

- Right to defend itself turns to ‘genocide’

The change in attitude toward an “immediate” cease-fire for some Western governments came with the genocide case brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands.

The ICJ, the highest UN court dealing with interstate matters, permitted a lawsuit to be filed which accused the Israeli state of committing genocide in Gaza. The judges ruled that Israel’s actions had a “genocidal” character and later ordered it to do everything in its capacity to prevent genocide.

- ICJ case changes views

Being the top UN court, the ICJ’s ruling was important to many countries, as it should be in an international rules-based world, and calls for a halt in Israeli attacks started to pour in.

They came in different forms from various countries, depending on their ongoing policies toward the conflict. The terms “humanitarian pause,” “humanitarian cease-fire,” “sustainable cease-fire,” “immediate cease-fire,” “immediate humanitarian cease-fire,” “cease-fire that would lead to peace talks,” and others have been the point of discussion in many European countries. But the Israeli onslaught has continued unabated.

With the 150th day of the conflict only a day away at the time of writing, the death toll in Gaza was still rising. But even those countries that previously said Israel has the “right to defend itself” have found themselves in a dilemma as the number of Palestinians killed now exceeds 30,000.

The EU has condemned the restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and said a recent Israeli attack on civilians in the besieged enclave was "unjustifiable," referring to the killing of at least 112 Palestinians who were shot dead last Thursday while trying to access much-needed humanitarian aid.

Even the UK, Germany and France felt obliged to call for an investigation into the latest incident in separate statements.

- People’s power

The power of millions of people who have demonstrated on streets in every corner of the world, including capitals such as London, Paris, Madrid, Athens, and Dublin, have at least forced politicians to rethink their positions since Oct. 7.

The protesters, from all walks of life, including many Jews, have strongly supported an immediate cease-fire to end the bloodshed in Gaza, where 15 people, including six children are killed every hour.

Posts on many social media platforms have accused the Israeli government of the ongoing genocide and the leaders of countries supporting this act are accused of facilitating the genocide and being complicit.

The graphic images of the dead on the streets of Gaza, dying and starving children, never-ending bloody scenes from hospitals and the rising death toll keep flooding online platforms and the “sudden” realization that this has gone on for too long is finally in many Western politicians’ minds as the number of dead in Gaza is enormous and rising.