The Western press is commenting this morning on the situation in the Middle East and in particular - Israel's plans to seize Gaza City and expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The British newspaper "Telegraph" writes that for the first time in Gaza City, a famine will be declared by an international organization. The newspaper explains that the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has declared only four cases of famine since its inception in 2004, all of which were in sub-Saharan Africa. According to information provided to the "Telegraph", the IPC will declare that there is famine in the Gaza Strip, which includes Gaza City, three other towns and several refugee camps.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" commented that Britain is among more than 20 countries demanding that Israel immediately grant foreign journalists access to Gaza to allow them to cover the "developing humanitarian catastrophe" in the war zone.
The publication points out that in order to increase pressure on Israel, 27 countries have signed a joint declaration calling on the country to end the blockade of press access and ensure protection for journalists working in Gaza.
"In light of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, we, the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition, call on Israel to allow immediate access to independent foreign media and ensure protection for journalists working in Gaza," the declaration says.
The American newspaper "Washington Post" draws attention to the fact that Israel, which by its own estimates already controls 75% of the Gaza Strip, is "moving with full force towards the capture of Gaza City".
For the evacuation of civilians to be legal under international humanitarian law, it must be temporary, the occupying power must ensure that the place where the civilians are relocated can meet their basic needs, and it must be presented as an option in the context of legitimate military operations in the area, Adil Haque, a professor of international law at Rutgers University, told the publication. If the operations the Israeli army will conduct are indiscriminate or otherwise illegal, then it is no longer a question of legal evacuation but of forced displacement, which consists of "the unlawful use of force to compel civilians to leave an area," says Haque.
Regarding Israel's announced plans for a Jewish settlement project in the West Bank, which would effectively divide the occupied Palestinian territory in two, the "New York Times" commented that the prospects for a functioning Palestinian state have been "gloomy for years, with each new Israeli settlement, road or barrier becoming more murky, and its borders have never been clear."
"This could have catastrophic consequences for the Palestinian territory and could really call into question the feasibility of a Palestinian state," said Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, an urban planning expert at the Israeli human rights organization "Bimcom". Building settlements there could put hundreds of Palestinians who live in and around the area at risk of eviction, he told the newspaper.
Hagit Ofran, a researcher at the organization "Peace Now" (Peace Now), says that "this government is trying to use every minute in power to create facts on the ground that will prevent the creation of a Palestinian state".
The European edition of "Politico" magazine commented that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 70 senior government officials - from heads of state to foreign ministers - have visited Kiev. "Yet, even as EU leaders debate whether Israel's behavior in Gaza violates the EU-Israel Association Agreement, not a single European foreign minister has visited there to assess the humanitarian situation firsthand," Politico points out.
This absence is not only shameful - it is a missed opportunity to use Europe's influence, the magazine adds. It explains that the EU is Israel's largest trading partner globally, accounting for a third of Israel's trade. Israel, on the other hand, accounts for less than 1% of the EU's global trade, the publication notes.
"Politico" adds that the bloc's solidarity with Israel after the October 7, 2023 attack was a sincere response to Hamas' brutality. "This solidarity in response to Hamas's atrocities, however, is now becoming complicity in Israel's atrocities," the magazine writes.