Worsening Gaza Situation: Further Killings Cannot Be Left Unattended

Editorial

15:27 JST, May 27, 2025

The situation surrounding the Palestinian territory of Gaza has entered a critical phase. This is because Israel has launched new large-scale attacks.

A large number of civilians, who have nowhere left to run, are being massacred in towns that have already been reduced to ruins. The violence must stop immediately.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared this month that Israel would take control of all of Gaza and expanded military operations. Repeated air strikes and indiscriminate attacks by ground troops have destroyed hospitals and shelters, killing many residents.

Israel and the Islamist group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in January, just before U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term began, but Israel reignited the war in March. Negotiations in Doha for a ceasefire between the two sides are in a state of collapse.

The direct cause that triggered the fighting was Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October 2023. The Netanyahu administration, insisting that Israel was exercising its right to self-defense, launched an attack on Gaza. The nation destroyed hospitals and other civilian facilities, claiming that Hamas members were hiding there.

The total death toll has exceeded 53,000. Israel had blocked the delivery of food and medicine for 2½ months, and many of the more than 2 million residents are starving.

As despicable as Hamas’ attacks were, Israel’s actions, which have caused so much harm to civilians, cannot be justified as Israel exercising its right to self-defense.

The United States, which Israel depends on for military support, must apply pressure on Israel and make the country stop its attacks on Gaza.

However, Trump did not stop in Israel and mention the situation in Gaza while visiting three Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, this month.

Trump appears to be growing increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu, who is not observing the ceasefire. Trump expressed his willingness to reach a new nuclear agreement with Iran, which is hostile to Israel. He also said the United States would halt attacks on Yemen’s anti-government Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.

But Trump should recognize that unless the United States is serious about stopping the fighting in Gaza, stability throughout the Middle East will not be achieved and Washington’s own interests will also continue to be threatened.

The European Union has decided to review its trade agreement with Israel, and Britain also has suspended intergovernmental talks with Israel over a trade agreement.

Japan also needs to focus on its efforts to increase international pressure on Israel. First, it should strongly urge the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia — to adopt a resolution calling for a smooth implementation of humanitarian assistance and a stop to the fighting in Gaza.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 27, 2025)