US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on November 30, 2023.AFP
On Monday, Germany urged Israel to guarantee "realistic" protection to civilians, as Israeli ground forces moved into the south of the strip.
"Something we expect from Israel is that they not only urge civilians to leave the danger zone but that they are in a realistic position to find safe shelter elsewhere," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press briefing.
"Too many civilians have already been killed in this war," he added.
Fischer’s statement marks a big shift in Berlin’s position, which has been among Europe’s most hawkish.
In November, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposed a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, claiming that the truce would leave Hamas the possibility of recovering and obtaining new missiles.
Meanwhile, approvals for German arms exports to Israel this year surged tenfold compared to 2022, with more than 80 percent of them coming after 7 October, according to reporting by Reuters.
Germany has also cracked down on demonstrations of pro-Palestinian solidarity, banning demonstrations and even arresting people for accusing Israel of genocide.
Macron questions strategy
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Israel's aim of eliminating Hamas risks unleashing a decade of war.
Achieving the "total destruction of Hamas" would mean "the war will last 10 years," Macron said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai.
This change contrasts with the early days of the war, when French policy skewed toward Israel, even drawing criticism from inside the diplomatic establishment.
Ten French ambassadors in the Middle Eastern and North African region co-signed a letter warning that France would damage its long-term reputation by steering away from its "traditionally balanced approach" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The letter, which was presented to Macron and the foreign ministry, noted that public opinion of France in the Arab world had been damaged due to its alleged “complicity in genocide."
Biden fears losing Arab public
The most notable change has been in the US stance.
For weeks, the Biden administration strongly backed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military offensive in Gaza, but a rising death count, enormous pro-Palestinian protests across the globe, and increasing discomfort inside the White House have put considerable strain on the US posture.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday Israel risked a “strategic defeat” if it failed to protect civilian lives in Gaza, adding he had personally appealed to Israeli leaders to do so.
“In this kind of a fight, the centre of gravity is the civilian population,” Austin said during the annual Reagan National Defence Forum in California. “And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
“So I have repeatedly made clear to Israel’s leaders that protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative.”
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in New Delhi: “Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks.”
“We want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them,” he added
The Biden administration has received stark warnings from American diplomats in the Arab world that its strong support for Israel’s military campaign “is losing us Arab publics for a generation,” according to a diplomatic cable obtained by CNN.
US support for Israel’s actions is being seen, the cable warns, “as material and moral culpability in what they consider to be possible war crimes.”
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