In the 23 harrowing days since Hamas attacked Israeli civilians and soldiers, Israel’s Western allies have had to perform a delicate balancing act: expressing steadfast support for the country during its darkest hours, while navigating the growing public anger on their streets over the intensifying bombardment of Gaza.
Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East have walked a different tightrope: managing outraged populations and, in some cases, proxy militant groups, which threaten to drag them into a broader war with Israel that they may not seek.
For both, Israel’s unfolding ground invasion of the densely populated Gaza Strip has complicated their calculations.
The phased nature of the operation has lacked the thunderous impact of an all-out infantry and tank assault, something Israel’s rivals had warned against, given the likelihood that it would cause untold civilian casualties.
And yet the growing Palestinian death toll — more than 8,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry — and the prospect that the fighting might go on for months, has already drawn thousands of protesters into the streets from London to Istanbul, demanding a cease-fire.
Persons:
Israel’s
Locations:
Gaza, Israel, London, Istanbul