You either support Israel or Hamas

A representative for Israel’s Foreign Ministry asserted that there can be no neutrality with regard to the Middle East crisis.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has declared that countries which have not backed Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 7 atrocity are siding with the militant group in the conflict. A representative for the ministry has insisted that there can be no neutrality about the crisis.

Lior Hayat called Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas an existential one during a virtual media briefing on Friday. He stated that “another October 7 massacre, and another one after that, and another one after that” is being planned by the group’s leadership.

As a result of the attack, Hayat said that Israel had gotten “unprecedented international support” since “no one could see those atrocities and not understand what we are dealing with.”

“I wish to convey to the world community a very clear message. You are endorsing Hamas if you do not denounce the organisation and do not acknowledge Israel’s right to self-defense.

There’s no halfway house. You could be

On October 7, Hamas militants broke through an Israeli-built perimeter wall encircling Gaza to launch an assault on neighbouring towns and military installations, where they massacred hundreds of civilians and took over 200 captives. In retaliation, Israel besieged the Palestinian enclave and bombarded it nonstop for weeks in order to prepare for an invasion on land.

The US has defended Israel’s actions with steadfast support, but many other countries have criticised the response as being out of proportion. Gaza is experiencing a humanitarian crisis as a result of being completely cut off from vital supplies and being under heavy bombing.

READ ALSO: Israel is not acting in “self-defense” in Gaza – Moscow

Bolivia severed diplomatic ties with Israel this week to express disapproval of its military actions in Gaza. Israel stated that Colombia and Chile had sided with Iran by recalling their ambassadors to the Jewish state, so endorsing terrorism. The nation has charged that Hamas is supported by Iran, a longstanding adversary in the region.

Hayat outlined a binary strategy that is similar to the Ukrainian government’s stance on its own war with Russia.

Israel may be “a mediator between nations, but not between good and evil,” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in a speech to Israeli lawmakers last year in an attempt to press for the transfer of cutting-edge weapons.

Since February 2022, when Kiev’s war with Russia intensified, the US has been trying to persuade neutral countries to support Ukraine. But Washington’s unwavering backing for Israel in the face of widespread civilian losses has “poisoned” this endeavour, leading some countries to charge it with hypocrisy.

About the diplomatic attempt, a senior G7 diplomat told the Financial Times last month, “They won’t ever listen to us again.”