In Gaza, the six-month milestone has arrived, and with it a perceptible shift. Whatever amnesty the Israeli government was given by its allies in the wake of the Hamas attacks is now threatening to expire. To much of the public, who backed a ceasefire since the early days of the Gaza assault, it was always clear that a calamity was going to unfold. But in the official sphere – among politicians and parts of the media – the horror of 7 October extended what seemed to be a blank cheque for Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
Perhaps it took the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers for that shift to occur, perhaps it was cumulative, but what is hard to deny now is that Israel has gone rogue. Over the last six months, both in tone and in action, what has emerged is a state that is breaking all protocols in a way that situates it not within the democratic fold, but in some outlaw category. Israel’s government has insulted its allies and sponsors. It has ignored and defied the rulings and warnings issued by the organisations of that democratic, law-abiding world, the one that it claims to represent in a backward, hostile region. And it has made its allies look weak and helpless, destabilising their domestic politics.
