MK says Israel 'killing babies as hobby', as tide turns among allies against war on Gaza

Left-leaning Israeli member of Knesset, Yair Golan, has said Israeli forces in Gaza are "killing children as a hobby", as allies voice concern about expanded military operations in the enclave.

Firm Israeli allies such as the UK, France, and even the US are said to be increasingly frustrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to end the war on Gaza and the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, where 14,000 children face death in the coming days, according to the UN.

Israel has expanded its military operations in Gaza amid a devastating siege on the enclave, which risks starving thousands, with concern at home that Israel's actions have damaged the country's international reputation.

"Israel is on the way to becoming a pariah state, like South Africa was, if we don’t return to acting like a sane country," Golan, who serves as the head of the opposition Democrats, said in an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan.

"A sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill children as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations," he continued.

The politician added that the Israeli government is "full of vengeful types with no morals and no ability to run a country in times of crisis". He also warned that Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza and obstruction of life-saving aid "endangers our existence".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, irked by the criticism, took to social media to denounce the comments.

In a post, the Israeli leader said Golan’s words were "wild incitement against our heroic soldiers and the state of Israel".

He also said that Israeli soldiers are engaged in "fighting in a battle for our very existence".

"Golan, who encourages defiance and has previously compared Israel to the Nazis while in uniform, has now reached a new low by claiming that Israel kills babies as a hobby," Netanyahu continued, also accusing Golan and people on the left of being anti-semitic.

Israel under scrutiny

The comments come as Israel faces growing pressure from countries around the world, after it expanded its offensive on Gaza and said it would only allow limited and controlled aid into the enclave via private US contractors and former military personnel, in a controversial plan denounced by rights groups.

A statement on Monday from the UK, France, and Canada threatened "concrete actions" against Israel if it did not halt the war on the Strip, which has killed over 61,700 Palestinians since October 2023.

The joint statement further said they could not stand idly by in the face of Netanyahu’s government’s "shameful actions" in Gaza.

France’s foreign minister on Tuesday further condemned Israel’s "insufficient" aid to Gaza, as famine looms in much of the enclave.

"It (the situation) is unsustainable because the Israeli government's blind violence, the blocking of humanitarian aid have turned Gaza into a place for dying, not to say a cemetery," Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio.

However, France's Marine Le Pen, President of the far-right National Rally parliamentary group, told i24NEWS that she was unhappy with President Macron's criticism of Israel. 

"I am very concerned about the distance that Emmanuel Macron is creating with Israel, if I may put it this way, precisely at the worst possible time. At a time when Israel is fighting a war against terrorism, when it needs the support of its friends, and France has traditionally been a friendly country toward Israel," she said. 

The mounting criticism, however, comes as only five UN trucks have been allowed into Gaza, after over two months of full blockade.

Saudi Arabia also joined in the criticism, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that Israel’s actions "contradict the will of the international community, violate human rights law and United Nations charters, and obstruct efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region".

The sharp statement also expressed rejection of all ground operations carried out by Israeli forces and cautioned against breaching international laws.

Qatar said Israel’s military offensive had undermined peace efforts following the release of the US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander.

"When Israeli American soldier Edan Alexander was released, we thought that moment would open a door to end this tragedy, but the response was a more violent wave of strikes," said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.

"This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace," he said in comments at the Qatar Economic Forum.

Tensions with the US

Israel’s intensive ground offensive, dubbed Gideon’s Chariots, involves overwhelming force by land, sea, and air, including the use of heavy machinery to demolish any infrastructure in Gaza deemed a threat by the Israeli military, although experts describe this as an act of collective punishment.

The stated plans of the offensive also include remaining indefinitely in all areas it captures - turning swathes of Gaza into an expanded buffer zone, or as some officials have creepily described it, a "sanitised" security belt.

The Trump administration has urged Israel to refrain from continuing the war and informed the government that it could abandon it if it refuses to do so, according to a report in The Washington Post on Monday, citing a source familiar with discussions.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Trump’s team told Israel: "We will abandon you if you do not end this war."

In response, Netanyahu said Israel "cannot bear images of mass starvation before the Americans" and that small amounts of aid have been allowed into Gaza because "we are approaching a red line".

Two sources familiar with the matter also told the publication that the US had engaged in talks with Hamas, agreeing they would allow some aid into the Strip if the group freed the captive Edan Alexander.

Trump’s envoy for Hostage Affairs, Adam Boehler, responded to the statement from France, the UK, and Canada, saying: "The US has always supported Israel and always considered how to balance interests, but if I were a European politician, I would think carefully about how to criticise Israel."

The increased criticism of Israel’s actions comes as the Palestinian ministry of health released a new 1,000-page document including the names and ages of over 52,959 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 2023.

Over 5,000 names are children below five-years-old, taking up a staggering 100 pages of the document.

Israel’s war on Gaza has plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis, destroyed hospitals and places of worship, and caused cases of malnutrition to spike as a result of the blockade. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have determined that the war is considered genocide.