Even by the standards of a conflict that has killed almost 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and created the entirely human-made famine taking hold in Gaza, Israel has crossed multiple lines in just a couple of days. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed seven foreign aid workers, including a dual US/Canadian citizen, three Britons as well as team members from Poland and Australia, and their Palestinian driver, as they attempted to meet some portion of the desperate need. Gaza’s chief hospital, al-Shifa, lies in ruins after a two-week IDF raid. Israel says no civilians died there; the World Health Organization disagrees. And it has killed the Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy at an Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria – reviving fears of a wider regional conflagration, and setting a dangerous precedent in targeting diplomatic premises.
Israel and its armed forces boast of following international law. A senior Tory has said that British government lawyers believe Israel has broken it. The former Israeli president Reuven Rivlin has warned that it is “one step away from international ostracism”. While the rhetoric of Israel’s allies has been slowly hardening, and their diplomatic position shifting, polls suggest that the public mood is moving faster. The World Central Kitchen workers were in clearly marked cars, in a “deconflicted” zone, heading away from an aid warehouse, having coordinated movements with the IDF. The convoy was struck not once but three times, killing the fleeing survivors.
