Bowen: The Israel-Gaza war is at a crossroads - BBC News

Will the killing of foreign aid workers exhaust the patience of Israel's allies?

2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, A Palestinian boy in Maghazi in central GazaBy Jeremy BowenInternational editor, Northern IsraelAll except the shortest wars have times when killing is an unchanging, grim routine. There are also moments, like the last few days in the Middle East, when events leave belligerents and their allies at a crossroads with big decisions to make.

Choices are confronting leaders in the governments and armed forces in Israel and Tehran, at Hezbollah's HQ in the southern suburbs of Beirut and further afield in the Gulf, Europe and America.

The killing of foreign aid workers in Gaza might finally exhaust the considerable patience of Israel's allies, led by the United States.

Israel and Egypt have banned foreign journalists from entering Gaza, except on occasional, highly controlled and brief visits with the Israeli military. Belligerents need to win the media battle in an age of asymmetric warfare where victory or defeat can rely on perceptions as much as the realities of battle. Journalists are also denied access to a war when the parties fighting it have something to hide.

But even without foreign reporters on the scene, evidence is piling up that Israel is not, as it claims, respecting its obligations under the laws of war to respect civilian lives, or allowing the free movement of aid in a famine created by Israel's own actions. After the World Kitchen team was killed in Gaza, President Biden used his strongest language yet in public statements to condemn Israel's actions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68722308

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