Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel’s expanded offensive in Gaza, Hungary preparing to leave the International Criminal Court, and G-7 finance ministers seeking unity.
Deadly Offensive
As Israel pursues an expanded military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, foreign pressure is mounting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the new offensive or else risk diplomatic and economic consequences.
Leading this charge is the United Kingdom, which announced on Tuesday that it will be suspending free trade negotiations with Israel over its conduct in the territory. London also imposed new sanctions on Israeli settlers whom it said were linked to violent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, and it summoned Israel’s ambassador to the British Foreign Office.
“I want to put on record today that we’re horrified by the escalation from Israel,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament on Tuesday, with Foreign Minister David Lammy calling the offensive “incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship.”
Israel’s new ground offensive, which the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday, came after days of renewed airstrikes on the territory, and more than 300 people have been killed in the latest spate of fighting. The expanded operation is also expected to further displace many of Gaza’s 2 million residents and exacerbate already dire humanitarian concerns there.
Israel has so far resisted foreign efforts to persuade it to stop its military action. “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted on X on Tuesday.
But international pressure and warnings of famine in Gaza have pushed Israel to concede to some demands. On Sunday, Netanyahu allowed his cabinet to approve the resumption of aid deliveries into Gaza. “We cannot reach a point of starvation, for practical and diplomatic reasons,” Netanyahu said, alluding to threats by key allies that Israel would lose support if its monthslong blockade on humanitarian assistance continued.
Since Monday, dozens of trucks carrying baby food and medical supplies have entered the territory. But this number is far less than the 600 vehicles that traveled in and out of Gaza daily during the last cease-fire deal.
“If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the leaders of Canada, France, and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement on Monday. French leadership went further, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot telling local radio on Tuesday that “indiscriminate violence and the blocking of humanitarian aid by the Israeli government” has turned the territory into “a death trap.”
Israel’s closest ally, the United States, has been less publicly vocal, but behind the scenes, the Trump administration has reportedly begun to increase the pressure. According to Axios, U.S. President Donald Trump is upset by images of starving Palestinian children and wants the conflict to end soon. The White House has been pushing Israel and Hamas to accept a new cease-fire and hostage-release deal since Trump concluded his Middle East trip last week. But such negotiations have made little progress, and this week, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance canceled his trip to Israel, with one U.S. official saying that Vance did not want his visit to be construed as the Trump administration condoning Israel’s offensive.
Trump has “made it very clear to Hamas that he wanted to see all hostages released” and “made it very clear he wants to see this conflict in the region end,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday. Both Israel and the United States deny that Trump is prepared to abandon Israel or apply more pressure on Netanyahu.
Today’s Most Read
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What We’re Following
Leaving the ICC. Hungary’s parliament approved a bill on Tuesday to formally begin the yearlong process of leaving the International Criminal Court (ICC). Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced his intention to do so last month, after Budapest defied an ICC arrest warrant by not detaining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited the country in March. Netanyahu is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for Israel’s military conduct in Gaza.
The ICC is “no longer an impartial court, a rule-of-law court, but rather a political court,” Orban said at the time, with Netanyahu praising his actions as a “bold and principled decision.” The Hungarian leader has accused the 125-member court of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes” and escalating regional tensions.
The ICC’s Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 to prosecute those accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Hungary will become the first European country to leave the global authority since its founding. China, Russia, Israel, and the United States are also not members.
Striving for consensus. G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors convened in Canada on Tuesday to try to seek unity on non-tariff issues, namely efforts to counter China. Six of the seven nations hope to keep the powerful grouping of leading industrialized democracies on the same page, but Washington’s differing priorities—particularly the Trump administration’s disruptive trade war and hostility to climate change mitigation efforts—have hindered the bloc’s effectiveness.
G-7 officials familiar with ongoing talks have suggested that a draft communique is in the works to demonstrate group solidarity. This could include a broad statement of support for Ukraine, backing for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and global collaboration on combatting financial crimes.
According to one U.S. source, the White House is not likely to “do a communique just for the sake of doing a communique.”
For his part, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he plans to use the three-day conference to brainstorm ways to generate more private-sector growth. The Trump administration wants to cut government spending and “reprivatize” the U.S. economy.
Arson attacks. A Romanian man was charged in London on Tuesday with conspiracy to commit arson with the intent to endanger life. Prosecutors accused Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, of being linked to three fires within the past two weeks that targeted two properties and one car all tied to the British prime minister. Carpiuc is the second man charged with involvement and one of three currently in custody. He has denied the allegations.
The first incident occurred on May 8, when a car once owned by Starmer was set ablaze in Kentish Town, North London. Three days later, a fire erupted at an Islington property that Starmer once lived in. The next day, a small blaze broke out at Starmer’s private home in Kentish Town; he has been living at Downing Street since taking office last year. No injuries were reported in any of the fires, though some damage occurred.
These assaults are “an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for,” Starmer said. British counterterrorism police are leading the investigation.
Odds and Ends
In 2019, five individuals broke into England’s Blenheim Palace to steal the satirical art piece “America,” a fully functioning, 18-karat gold toilet worth $6.4 million. On Monday, the man convicted of helping the burglars sell the commode was granted leniency. “You no doubt, for the last five and a half years, regret doing [that] … every day since your arrest,” British judge Ian Pringle told the accused. Instead of prison time, the individual was given a two-year suspended term and ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid work.
The post Netanyahu Faces Growing Foreign Pressure to End Gaza Offensive appeared first on Foreign Policy.
