June will be a crucial month in the diplomatic dance surrounding Gaza. Western leaders are engaged in a new round of diplomatic posturing. French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Canadian figurehead Mark Carney have threatened Israel with sanctions and adjustments to the EU-Israel Free Trade Agreement over its military operations in Gaza. These actions come despite the fact that Israel’s campaign is a direct response to the horrific attack launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023, during which 1,200 people were tortured, burned alive, and brutally murdered, mass rape was committed, and 240 hostages were taken into Gaza. Hamas is the party that initiated this violence and has been utilizing the population of Gaza as its shield against Israeli reprisal ever since, along with a lending hand from the international community that refused to allow the women and children of Gaza to relocate to a temporary safe area – leaving them to remain in the war zone as human pawns.
Instead of supporting the dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure that Hamas entrenched in Gaza with Qatari and Iranian funding, Europe’s leaders have opted to pressure Israel. Their gestures, no matter how well-intentioned they may seem, risk emboldening the very forces that have perpetuated barbarity and instability in the region.
France’s role in this diplomatic charade is especially striking. The French government has a complex and controversial historical legacy – from its colonial past in Africa and the Levant to the Nazi collaborationist Vichy regime during World War II. Apparently, this does not concern the Elysee, the magnificent residence of French presidents. Instead, President Macron positions himself as a global defender of human rights. Yet his recent hosting of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a figure with past associations with Al Qaeda, ISIS, and their extremist offshoots, raises difficult questions. While Paris rolled out the red carpet, reports emerged of brutal crackdowns by Sharaa’s forces on minority groups back home, including Alawites and the Druze.
There are also domestic considerations at play. Macron, facing declining influence at home and possibly dealing with domestic violence and abuse in his own household, seems to be appealing to both the political left and segments of France’s growing Muslim population. Meanwhile, Macron continues to criticize Israel, a democracy confronting both internal challenges and external existential threats.
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Similarly, Starmer and Carney are navigating internal political pressures and looking to international affairs to become the “anti-Trump.” Starmer, in particular, suffers from a low 23 percent approval rating at home. But these diplomatic maneuvers risk undermining an emerging framework that has shown real promise and popularity: the Abraham Accords.
The Abraham Accords, initiated in 2020, have opened unprecedented opportunities for cooperation between Israel and several Arab nations, including the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, and Sudan. They represent a pragmatic and peaceful alternative to decades of failed approaches promoting a Palestinian state. Instead of doubling down on outdated models like the two-state solution, which have led to ballooning international aid budgets totaling billions of dollars, the embrace of terrorism, stalemates, and disillusionment, policymakers should focus on expanding the Accords to include U.S.-friendly countries like Indonesia and Azerbaijan. The latter is strategically important as it abuts Russia, Turkey, and Iran, and is the strongest country in the crucial South Caucasus region – a geographic nexus to energy and minerals rich Central Asia.
What Gaza needs now is not more symbolic condemnations of Israel or high-profile recognition stunts. It requires a transitional authority made up of a multinational coalition –one that includes the U.S., Israel, Egypt, the UAE, and possibly Saudi Arabia. This coalition could oversee the disarmament of Hamas, the rebuilding of civilian infrastructure, and the establishment of transparent governance. International aid should be directed toward education, healthcare, and employment, not diverted into tunnels and rockets. UNRWA, the UN agency tasked with Palestinian relief, has repeatedly faced credible allegations of enabling extremism. Any new framework must include strict oversight and accountability to ensure that international support contributes to peace and development, not further radicalization.
A coordinated diplomatic initiative led by the U.S. could shift the narrative. An announcement expanding the Abraham Accords would present a constructive, forward-looking vision, countering the Anglo-French-Canadian theatrics of moral posturing with actionable strategy. Macron et al. need to counter domestic Islamist penetration by the Qatar-funded Muslim Brotherhood, not seek aggrandizement about Gaza. A new 76-page French intelligence services report exposes the mind boggling subversion of the French state by the Muslim Brotherhood while Macron and his predecessors postured and bloviated.
The stakes are high. If the current wave of European diplomatic pressure results in legitimizing violent actors under the guise of statehood, it will set back peace efforts for years. But if the U.S. and its allies rally behind a coalition-based recovery and governance effort in Gaza, they can offer a credible path forward – one that prioritizes stability, regional cooperation, and genuine humanitarian progress.
Now is the time to act. The United States and friendly world leaders must look beyond symbolic gestures and invest in solutions that match the gravity of the moment.