European leaders and diplomats expressed concern Tuesday over the renewed Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, following the most intense Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took effect in January.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces launched dozens of strikes throughout Gaza under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited the terror group’s “repeated refusal” to release the 59 hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.
More than 400 Palestinians were killed in the shock return to fighting, including children, according to unverified numbers from the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 560 others were said to have been injured.
In Berlin, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “the end of the ceasefire in Gaza due to heavy Israeli attacks is cause for great concern,” adding that she was planning a trip to Lebanon on Wednesday.
“The images of burning tents in refugee camps are shocking. Fleeing children and internally displaced persons must never be used as leverage in negotiations.”
Baerbock stressed that “international law includes the principle of proportionality even in self-defense.”
“With the resumption of fighting, the fate of the remaining hostages but also the future of the people in Israel, Gaza and the entire Middle East now again hangs on an extremely thin silk thread,” she said.
Germany’s top diplomat said she was appealing “in particular to the USA to use its regional influence … now, because the security of the wider Middle East is affected by this.”
The US has backed Israel’s decision to resume its aerial campaign in Gaza, saying that Hamas bears full blame for the airstrikes after the terror group rejected a bridge proposal put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff to extend the ceasefire by several weeks.
“Hamas is delaying the compelling deal in front of us and forcing Palestinians to suffer the consequences,” a spokesperson from the US State Department said.
Meanwhile, both the UK’s ambassador to Israel Simon Walters and British Foreign Minister David Lammy criticized Israel’s renewed strikes and emphasized the need for diplomacy over continued conflict.
“We all want to see Hamas defeated and we are desperate for the hostages to return home,” wrote Walters on X, “But renewed IDF operations in Gaza will achieve neither of those aims. Instead, there will be more death: of hostages, of Palestinian civilians, of IDF soldiers.”
“At some point, the fighting has to stop and the diplomacy begin, Walters added. “That point is now.”
Lammy also took to X to denounce the military campaign, saying that the “civilian casualties from Israeli strikes overnight are appalling.”
“All parties must re-engage with negotiations to get hostages out, surge aid, and secure a permanent end to this conflict. Diplomacy, not more bloodshed, is how we get security for Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.
Lammy’s comments came a day after he told the British House of Commons that Israel’s aid blockade on Gaza — which was reimplemented earlier this month — was a violation of international law. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared to distance himself from Lammy’s remarks, saying that the UK would leave it “up to the court to make those judgments,” according to Politico.
France and Italy joined their fellow Europeans in condemning the renewed offensive on Gaza and warned that it could also endanger the lives of the remaining hostages.
“We are following with great concern the resumption of fighting in Gaza… which jeopardises the objectives we are all working towards,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “The release of all hostages and a permanent end to hostility, as well as the restoration of full humanitarian assistance in the Strip.”
In a statement during a foreign ministry press briefing, France condemned the airstrikes, and the “numerous civilian casualties” they caused.
It called for an immediate ceasefire, a return to negotiations, and the unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza.
The statement also called on Israel to protect civilians in the enclave and to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, water, and electricity.
Hamas has refused to accept any proposals to extend the ceasefire and hostage release deal that deviate from the original terms of the deal, which was supposed to enter its second phase earlier this month.
The second phase envisioned Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages.
While Israel signed on to the deal, Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been destroyed.
Accordingly, Israel refused to even hold talks regarding the terms of phase two, which were supposed to begin on February 3.
Nonetheless, the ceasefire remained in place for roughly two and a half weeks after the conclusion of the first phase, as mediators worked to broker new terms for the truce’s extension.
Accepting Israel’s aversion to phase two, Witkoff presented a bridge proposal last week that would have seen the first phase of the deal extended by several weeks, in exchange for the release of five living hostages, but the outline was rejected by Hamas.