Israel is increasingly coming under pressure from its closest allies, including the United States, over its military escalation in Gaza and the trickle of aid it is now allowing into the enclave after a months-long blockade of humanitarian relief.

Germany, that has staunchly backed Israel’s right to defend itself after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, on Monday took a more critical stance against Israel’s military objectives in Gaza, while a joint statement from the United Kingdom, Canada and France on May 20th threatened concrete actions against Israel were it not to stop its renewed military offensive and lift aid restrictions.

This comes as US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for the war to wind down.

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz told German Public Broadcaster WDR that he no longer understood what the goal of Israeli army actions in Gaza was, arguing that when boundaries were crossed, where international humanitarian law was being violated, that it was incumbent on the German Chancellor to also say something.

This echoed sentiments from other Israeli allies a week earlier, the UK, Canada and France issuing a joint statement that while they had always supported Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism, that its recent military escalation in Gaza was wholly disproportionate.

Rejects criticism

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the criticism by labelling it as support for Hamas; its latest military escalation aimed at reoccupying 75% of the enclave while pushing the over 2 million Palestinians into three small zones.

“We will defeat those who seek our lives. We will bring back all our hostages. We will ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. This mission, including the mission of returning our hostages, accompanies us day by day. It occupies us night by night, including tonight. We are not letting go of it. If we don’t achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow – we are not letting go of it.”

But that position appears in conflict with the sentiment expressed by the US President Donald Trump, who has signalled a desire for the war in Gaza to be wound down.

“With Hamas on Gaza. We want to see if we can stop that. And Israel, we’ve been talking to them that we want to see if we can stop that whole situation as quickly as possible.”

Sounding the alarm

UN Chief Antonio Guterres also continue to sound the alarm.

“The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction. Today, 80% of Gaza has been either designated an Israeli-militarized zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave. In other words, four-fifths of the territory of Gaza is a no-go zone for the people of Gaza. And so, beyond questions about the particular number of trucks at any particular moment, it is important to stay fixed on the big picture. And the big picture is that without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die – and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound.”

This as a controversial newly-established private aid organisation, The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,- announced that it began delivering truckloads of food to secure distribution sites in Gaza, just as the group’s Executive Director Jake Wood announced his resignation Sunday, stating that the group’s plans could not be consistent with “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence”, a position also held by the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Spokesperson Jens Laerke.

“As we have explained many times, we do not participate in this modality for the reasons that we have given. It is a distraction from what is actually needed, which is the reopening of all the crossings into Gaza, a secure environment within Gaza and faster facilitation of permissions and final approvals of all the emergency supplies that we have just outside the border and need to get in. Just to stress that, of course, we have not stopped operating. We have staff. But as you know very well, we’re running on almost 12 weeks, I believe, of blockade with an opening where there is allowed a vastly insufficient amount of aid into the Gaza Strip. And we need much more.”

The UN says needs on the ground demand that more than 500 aid trucks be allowed into Gaza daily,Israel says 170 entered the enclave on Monday.

All this as the US signals that a new temporary ceasefire proposal is on the table that would see half the living and deceased Israeli hostages returned and then lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire which US envoy Steve Witkoff would preside over.

The current proposal would see 10 living and the bodies of 10 dead Israeli hostages returned, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released in two stages during a 70 day pause in fighting, a period in which Israel and Hamas would negotiate the terms of a permanent ceasefire.

It is worth recalling that a similar three-phased ceasefire arrangement towards a permanent stop to fighting collapsed in March, leading to a resumption in the current military escalation in Gaza and almost 4 000 additional deaths since then.