British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Israeli government’s plans are “wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately.” He added: “This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union Commission, echoed the United Kingdom’s position, saying the expanded military operation “must be reconsidered.” She called for the release of all hostages, “immediate and unhindered” humanitarian aid to Gaza, and a ceasefire.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an organization representing some of the families of people taken captive, struck a similar note in a statement overnight and underlined the growing domestic opposition to the grinding war in Gaza, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007.
“Last night’s cabinet decision to pursue occupation of the Gaza Strip means abandoning the hostages, while completely ignoring the repeated warnings from military leadership and the clear will of the majority of the Israeli public,” the forum said.
The forum was referring to the growing opposition to the war inside Israel, where many citizens are alarmed about Palestinian civilians dying from malnutrition. The Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group of hundreds of retired Israeli security officials, recently wrote a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to pressure Netanyahu to end the war.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is part of the centrist Yesh Atid party, blasted Netanyahu’s decision as a “disaster,” saying it would “take many long months, lead to the deaths of the hostages, the killing of many soldiers, cost the Israeli taxpayer tens of billions, and result in diplomatic collapse.”
Israel also faced objections from a chorus of Arab nations Friday.
Jordan called Jerusalem’s plans an effort to “entrench its occupation” of Palestinian territory. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, speaking to the president of the Palestinian Authority, stressed his country’s support for the Palestinian people and opposition to any attempt to displace them. Both neighbors have made peace with Israel after years of military conflict.
Saudi Arabia, which has long publicly advocated the cause of Palestinian statehood, said it “condemns” Netanyahu’s move in “the strongest and most severe terms.” The kingdom warned that the “continued failure” of the international community to intervene in Israel’s offensive threatens world peace and “portends dire consequences.”
Saudi Arabia does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel, though Netanyahu had sought to improve ties with the powerful Gulf kingdom before the Hamas war broke out.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Netanyahu’s plans. Trump has not explicitly criticized the Israeli leader over the proposed escalation of the Gaza war.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and former Republican governor of Arkansas, said in an interview with CBS News this week that the Israeli government must decide how to proceed with the war. “It’s not our job to tell them what they should or should not do,” Huckabee said in part.
In recent weeks, polls have suggested that the American public has grown increasingly skeptical of Israel’s military conduct. Americans’ approval of Israel’s military action in Gaza stood at 32% in a Gallup survey last month — the lowest reading since Gallup first posed the question to respondents in November 2023.
Meanwhile, an Economist/YouGov survey released Tuesday found that a plurality of the American electorate believed Israel’s attacks on Gaza are “unjustified,” with only 27% of respondents expressing support for Netanyahu.
The current conflict between Israel and Hamas started after the Hamas-led terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and led to around 250 others being taken hostage in Gaza. Israel’s government believes roughly 20 of the 50 remaining hostages are still alive.
Israel’s subsequent air and ground offensive has killed more than 61,000 people in the Palestinian enclave — more than half of them women and children, according to local health officials.
Most of the civilian population has been driven from their homes at least once, with malnutrition spiraling in recent months as Israel upended the aid distribution system in the enclave.
Gaza’s hunger crisis has reached a “tipping point,” experts and advocates told NBC News in interviews last month. Netanyahu has insisted there is “no starvation in Gaza.”
Israel maintains that it is not its fault that aid is not reaching Palestinians, and instead blames Hamas for violence around distribution sites and for stealing help, and the United Nations and other groups for the acute lack of food and medicine.
Andy Eckardt, Omer Bekin and Chantal Da Silva contributed.
