Israel’s friends are increasingly turning against it due to its starvation campaign in Gaza. Even Bret Stephens is questioning the wisdom of it. What is going on here?
Four things. First of all, starvation hits children first, which means the optics are bad. Second, it serves no obvious military purpose in the battle against the pathetic remnants of Hamas. Third, the imbalance of power in Gaza has been so great for months now that the world is unwilling to blame the war on Hamas. Finally, starvation plays into the narrative that Israel wants to commit either genocide or ethnic cleansing in Gaza in order to redevelop the place for Jewish settlers. The presence in the cabinet of extreme right ministers who clearly want this to happen doesn’t help.