The UK, France and Canada threaten Israel

[Whatsinanamehey]

"The leaders of Britain, France, and Canada on Monday threatened action against Israel if it does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions"

"We have always supported Israel's right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate," the three Western leaders said in the joint statement, adding that they will not stand by while Netanyahu's government pursues "these egregious actions."

My personal opinion is once again it is too little, too late. However I'm interested to hear opinions on what exactly this threatening action would consist of?

What has caused these governments to issue such a statement now and not before? The blockade of aid has been ongoing for more than two months. Why didn't they say take further action earlier?

Lastly, will this statement have any effect on the Netanyahu extremist government? Or will they brush it off as they usually do? I'm not sure as these are three powerful allies who have so far been quite wishy washy with their condemnation.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/uk-france-canada-threaten-israel-against-gaza-offensive-2025-05-19/

It just annoys me that people feel they have to 'see' or have concrete numbers to know what a lack of food and medical care would do to people. It's common sense. Also the idea that a few aid trucks can fix months and months of malnutrition and lack of medical treatment because let's face it people there haven't had enough of anything since very early on when Israel decided to target bakeries and hospitals.

It's awful and I'm really concerned that this trickle of aid Israel have decided to let in will make our governments think job done, let's leave Israel to it again when Israels plans to let as little in as possible mean that people are still going to suffer horribly on purpose because Israel want them gone.

I'm sat here with a pile of meds in front of me after having life saving surgery a few weeks ago, I have serious anaemia as a result of massive blood loss. Good food, rest, medical care have all had to play such a role in my life in the past few weeks that I can't help but think wtf are Palestinians going through? Límbs blown off but no medicine, no rest, no food? Terrified in their hospital beds, terrified when they leave and are forced to walk several kms to another 'safe zone' weak, in pain, starving. It's horrific and I know I'm feeling extra sensitive at the moment but seeing people on mumsnet being so dismissive of it all is sickening me.

Always with the word salad @Mylegishangingoff

Pretending I’m being dismissive when it’s not dismissive to point out that a UN spokesman made a big mistake (quickly corrected) that is now being mindlessly repeated on social media as if it’s the truth.

And people displaying faux outrage by the fact the number has been corrected. Maybe they should contact the UN to accuse them of being dismissive.

Some bakeries in the south and central Gaza have re opened today which is atleast one thing positive. Let's hope more and more much needed aid keeps going in and distributed to everyone who needs it.

MyLegishangingoff Love and hugs to you, I hope that you're on the mend ❤️.

It is the clearest thing ever to see the damage and carnage that is being inflicted daily live in 4K. The time for debating numbers ran out long ago. The IDF bombed the last cancer hospital in Gaza, thousands without treatment, it's pure vengeance in the pursuit of the destruction of a people in whole or part.

Keep your compassion exactly where it is, Empathy is basic humanity. The Palestinians that I speak to daily really are thankful for the people who are their voices right now as they struggle to survive and you are shouting loudly and it is noticed and appreciated 💐

@Mylegishangingoff I hope you will get well soon.

There is a minority of posters on here who deny this is happening altogether. I actually haven’t seen anything half as bad on here as what the Israeli government are actually saying. Just denial. And apathy towards Palestinians.

@Twiglets1 it was a very unfortunate mistake. It gave ammunition to discredit the U.N. and the respected news sites that repeated it too. I agree that accuracy is important. We can work off the facts because they are compelling on their own.

I'm not pretending anything Twiglets. I genuinely feel that you have been consistently dismissive of Israels actions, intentions and Palestinian suffering across a number of threads.

Thank you @Odras for agreeing that accuracy is important.

@Twiglets1
The fact is that it shouldn’t matter if it is one baby that dies from a preventable cause or two babies or 14,000. It is only when you have dehumanised people into numbers that facts like the numbers dying due to preventable starvation actually matter.

Would you say the fact that there weren’t 40 beheaded babies made 7/10 less horrific?

Yes I think it would have been even more horrific had that rumour been true.

And it would be more horrific for 14,000 Palestinian babies to have died of starvation by Wednesday (since he said within 48 hours on Monday) than those deaths not to have occurred.

My point is that the situation IS already horrific! 7/10 was already horrific.

Arguing about whether 40 babies were beheaded or not, whether the extent of malnutrition means children will die within one timeframe or another, is a distraction from the fact that there has been and is significant suffering, and children are already dying of starvation. The aid still is not reaching them.

This is the essence of the message. A focus on inaccuracies feel like an attempt to minimise the dangers already present.

@Stripes56 no one has suggested the situation isn’t already horrific.

I can’t help it how people react to the news that the 14,000 babies dying comment was a mistake that has now been corrected.

Ok - we have found some agreement - the situation is already horrific.

We disagree on how important it is to focus on timescales are for deaths in a situation that is already dire, when children and elderly are already dying and suffering.

So the question being discussed is if enough aid was being allowed in by Israel.

Israel used to allow in 500 lorries a day. After a blockade since March - it has let in a between 90 -150 lorries.

Aid agencies say this is insufficient. Imagine feeding, providing medication and other essentials of daily living for 2 million people in 90 lorries after a 11 week blockade.

The world has donated 6000 lorries of aid - waiting to get into Gaza.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czdyv3jp5elo.amp

We agree the situation is already horrific.

Don’t really understand the confusion about that since I said the situation would be “even more horrific” had the rumour been true.

To say it’s just a matter of timescale is not correct either. The distribution of aid which has now restarted will hopefully prevent these potential thousands of deaths from happening. I know there isn’t enough aid going into Gaza at the moment but the plan is for it to increase so I’m hoping it will soon be enough to prevent these entirety avoidance deaths of innocent children.

This morning

Ajith Sunghay told Breakfast presenter Anna Jones that the level of aid entering was "wholly inadequate" and the arrival of a few hundred trucks to support a population of 2.2 million people was "nothing to rejoice" about.
Yesterday, the Palestinian health minister said 29 children and elderly people had died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days and that many thousands more were at risk.
"There are people visibly starving," Sunghay said. "You can see them physically malnourished, and then there are people who are dying because of starvation.
"In recent history, we have not seen this anywhere in the world. This is a human-created disaster."
According to the UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the entire population of Gaza is experiencing acute food insecurity.

It's disgusting that on other threads some posters are asking for proof to see pictures of starving children because they don't believe Palestinians are starving 😭

I know we do disagree on here but atleast we all agree that nobody, Israeli or Palestinian should starve and all innocent people on both sides are the victims. In that sense this thread feel abit safer to comment on.

I agree with this.

There are innocent people on both sides and we all want the aid to increase quickly and to reach them as soon as possible.

Very well said here, it is absurd that Netanyahu is accusing Starmer of anti-semitism, when it is only very clear and legitimate criticism of his actions and policies.

"Netanyahu himself has been one of Hamas's biggest supporters," says Matt Duss, executive vice president at the centre for international policy.
"Netanyahu's policy was to deliver, literally, bags of cash into Gaza to help sustain the Hamas government inside Gaza for the purposes of keeping the Palestinian leadership divided to prevent any negotiations that could lead to a Palestinian state.
"This was Netanyahu's policy that helped keep Hamas in power, this was the policy that enabled the October 7 attacks to happen.
"So to attack Starmer for this very late-coming criticism - and finally starting to put pressure on Netanyahu to change his policy in Gaza - I think should just be completely rejected right out of hand."
He is rightly facing increasing criticism, including in Israel, for endangering the lives of Palestinians and Israeli hostages, says Duss.
Netanyahu "really wants to blur that line" between criticising Israeli government policy and antisemitism, he adds.
"Netanyahu's goal here is to conflate these things, to hide behind this shield, than to have to confront the very legitimate criticisms of his policy."
Duss says Netanyahu's policy in Gaza has been "a catastrophe since and even before October 7".
"Netanyahu has always wanted to prolong this war for his own political purposes."

The above was on Sky, almost two years later the media is finally saying what should have been said at the start of the war. What has taken them so long?

It's so that in the future they can say that they always opposed the crimes against Humanity that were committed and were always against it and it was those people over there that supported it. Even Piers Morgan (Mr. "Do you condemn Hamas?") is jumping ship.

I also think that they take a lot of cues from their American counterparts (many journalists have direct contact's within the government aka the Washington Post has been jokingly referred to as the CIA's mouthpiece). There was a poll last month in America that showed that 50% of Republicans under 50 did not have a favourable view of Israel (fatal for future support). There are elections in 16 months and if Republican voters react the same way Democrats did last November and stay home, Trump is in danger of losing both the House and Senate. So a directive to pivot has come down and Europe as per usual follows America.

The other thing is due to threat of losing your job a lot of Journalists stayed silent, Sangita Myska at LBC is an example, she didn't even say anything controversial, just asked tough journalistic questions to an Israeli Representative and she was put on leave and her contract was not renewed allegedly "due to viewing figures" though her replacement has not even managed to get the same figures that Sangita got.

It's safer to speak out in numbers.

The other thing is how long can you defend what many ordinary people are increasingly beginning to see as indefensible.

The Israeli Government has been continually asked to reign in inappropriate likely genocidal statements, they've doubled down.

Look at this poll of Jewish Israelis done recently by Penn State University it shows:

82% Support for ethnic cleansing of Gazans,
56% Support for ethnic cleansing of Israeli Arabs (the West Bank and Jerusalem).
47% Support killing all Gazans in cities captured by IDF.

Article from Haaretz: https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/2025-05-22/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/00000196-f3a3-d6d3-ab9e-f3bbf6070000

I know it’s disgusting. How much more evidence do people need. Channel 4 news last night showed small children/ babies with protruding ribs and the tiniest of limbs. And this was in a hospital where you would think they have better supplies. What must it be like for the other children.

The UK, France and Canada have done nothing. They’ve not sanctioned a single member of the Israeli government, they’ve not sanctioned trade, they’ve suspended trade talks and sanctioned the crazy woman of the TV? Purely performative

The UK, France and Canada have done nothing. They’ve not sanctioned a single member of the Israeli government, they’ve not sanctioned trade, they’ve suspended trade talks and sanctioned the crazy woman of the TV? Purely performative @Golden407

UK revoked Aeroflot's landing slots when it disapproved of Russia's behaviour. So why not do the same for El-Al ?
Lammy's words are just that, words, costing him no more than the breath it takes to say them. It's easy for him to sound indignant, but he needs to follow this up with deeds.

The whole thing is soul destroying. Remember the pretext for intervening in Libya was that Gadaffi may be “about to commit genocide”. Here we are in the middle of a genocide and what do they do? Sanction a nutcase off a tv show