The Decibel - Israel launches new military offensive, Canada voices opposition

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Over the weekend, the Israeli military launched a new operation in Gaza called Gideon’s Chariots. It comes after a two-month long blockade of humanitarian aid that is finally starting to ease as some trucks with food have been allowed to enter the Palestinian enclave.Hamida Ghafour is The Globe’s deputy foreign editor. She talks about the international response to Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent decisions, an update on the remaining hostages and what it has been like for Palestinians to live under the current circumstances.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail] 

You're listening to the sounds of dozens of Palestinians, men, women and children clamoring for soup from a community kitchen in Gaza on May 19th. They shout and wave the pots and buckets they've brought, trying to get some of the steaming liquid to bring back to their families. One of them is Mahmoud Alha. He's a 39-year-old father of four and also takes care of two of his brother's children. Now after we get food from the soup kitchen, thank God, you see the number of children I have. This is my niece who is paralyzed and this is my daughter who has a heart disease, bronchial asthma and epilepsy. She is not growing up. She is seven years old and she weighs 11 kilograms.

Thank God, as you can see, this is breakfast, lunch and dinner, thank God, after we got food from the soup kitchen. This is an ongoing issue for more than a month and a half or two months. I wish everyone to stand by us. Our children are dying slowly. The UN Children's Agency says over 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year so far. It's been almost 20 months since October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and abducted 251 others.

That brought an intensive military response from the Israeli government that has led to the deaths of more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It's been over two months since Israel broke the ceasefire in March. There are fewer than 60 hostages still in captivity, but it's believed only 23 are still alive.

Now, the Israeli government is facing growing international pushback and protests from Israelis demanding the return of all the hostages and an end to the war. Hamidah Ghaffour is the Globe's deputy foreign editor. She's on the show today to provide an update on the Israeli military's new operation, the state of humanitarian aid, and why ceasefire talks seem to be at an impasse. I'm Maynika Ramen-Welms and this is The Decibel from the Globe and Mail. Hamida, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me on the show. So

we're talking close to 1 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday and I want to start with what's actually happened this past weekend. The Israeli military launched a new offensive in Gaza. So Hamidah, what do we know about this? So first of all, the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel broke down back in March when Israel began attacking Gaza. The fighting hasn't stopped since then. What tends to happen is that the Israeli military fights in an area and withdraws to the borders and it's been mostly by air. But last weekend, this new offensive was launched and it's slightly different. It's called Operation Gideon's Chariots and the difference is that the fighting is more

comprehensive and much more intense. It's a full operation by land and air involving many more thousands of Israeli soldiers. AMT – And when you say this is more intense, do we know what the goal of this operation is? KS – So the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the goal of this operation is to force Hamas to surrender or to destroy Hamas for good. The offensive is supposed to force Hamas to return some of the hostages who are still being held in Gaza. Fundamentally, another objective is to take full control of the Gaza Strip. Those are Mr Netanyahu's words.

Currently, the Israeli military, we understand they control about 30% of Gaza, so the purpose would be to control all of it. Now, one of the ministers in Mr Netanyahu's cabinet, Bezalel Smotrich, has gone even further about the objective. He said that it will force the Palestinians to the southern part of Gaza, and quote, I'm quoting him, from there with God's help to third countries, close quote. So in other words, he has been talking about permanently removing the Palestinians who live there. Danielle Pletka I mean, that is a pretty significant statement then from a member of the Israeli government.

Absolutely. It's worth also pointing out that it's illegal under international law because it's considered ethnic cleansing. I also wonder about the timing of this operation here, Hamida, because as you said there has been fighting going on. The ceasefire broke down in March, so we have seen fighting since then. But why did they launch this operation now? Why this past weekend? It's a really good question. So this plan was approved by the government a couple of weeks ago. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the US President Donald Trump, he was in the

Middle East last week. He left on Friday. This military offensive began on Sunday. It could be that Israel didn't want to start this intensive fighting when the president was in the region, perhaps not to embarrass the United States, which is Israel's most important supporter and ally. Interesting. Okay. To note that timing is seem significant as well. Okay, so it's been a few days now since we've seen Operation Gideon's chariots take effect. What kind of impact has this offensive had in Gaza?

So Gaza, as we have seen over the last 20 months since the war began, it's been reduced to rubble. But in the last few days, the airstrikes have caused even more destruction to the remaining infrastructure, so roads, homes, buildings, things like that. But the human toll, of course, is most important. And in the last few days, several hundred Palestinians have died. Many more have been injured. Undoubtedly, some of these are Hamas fighters, but there are also many civilians, including children who are getting caught up in the fighting.

So the Israeli government has said that it has also, since this offensive began, destroyed infrastructure associated with Hamas. These include some of the underground tunnels and also above ground infrastructure, like military installations and things like that. But it's also worth pointing out that the fighting is also risking the lives of the remaining hostages who are being held in Hamas underground. These are Israeli hostages.

These are Israeli hostages in the tunnels, yeah. So we of course don't know yet how this has had an impact on them. Yeah. We are gonna talk a little bit later on too about what life is like for people who are still there too. But I want to stay on this operation for a little while here, Hamida. How has the international community reacted to the news of this operation?

So it's pretty unusual in general for Western countries, including Canada, to openly criticize the state of Israel. The countries of the global south have been critical for many years. Some of the countries, including those in the Middle East, are openly anti-Semitic. But in Western Europe and North America, the consensus opinion for many decades has been that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It's an indispensable ally to the West in a part of the world beset with tyrants and militants and that Israel has the right to defend itself against its neighbor some of whom want to destroy it and So the perception and the consensus has been that its actions against those who seek to harm Israel has is justified

But something very unexpected is happening and it's unfolding as we record our show. On Sunday, the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the French President Emmanuel Macron, they put out a statement condemning this new offensive and they called for Israel to end it. It was quite strongly worded. It's asking Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It's criticizing Israel for wanting to dis into Gaza. It's criticizing Israel for wanting to displace the Palestinian population and that Israel's actions were also in breach

of international law. There was also a line that Israel may get sanctioned. So from what you're saying, it sounds like this is pretty rare for Western countries like Canada, the UK and France to come out with something like this. Absolutely. The British government, since putting out the statement, has gone further. They have suspended trade talks with Israel. At the same time, the European Union is saying that they are, quote, reviewing their relationship with Israel. There's no details yet on what this means.

And what also really stood out for me was Germany. So Germany almost never speaks out publicly against Israel for obvious historic reasons. But the chancellor in the cabinet expressed quote great concern about the situation. And now Canada. As this war continues, that moral high ground that Israel has stood on for such a long time is looking a little shaky. And as we record this, there's also very strange reports coming out of the West Bank that the Israelis are shooting at a delegation of European diplomats who are visiting the West Bank. These diplomats are Spanish, Irish, and British.

So when you say Israeli, you mean the IDF then, the forces? The Israeli Defense Forces, yeah. There are statements that are coming out from various countries condemning the actions. We don't really know what's going on, but it's certainly another sign, a very stark sign that the relationship between Israel and its Western allies, traditional Western allies, is definitely at a high friction point. You mentioned that the UK has suspended free trade talks with Israel. I guess I just wonder about Canada too.

Have we ever enacted sanctions or anything against Israel? So we don't know yet what, if anything, the Canadian government will do. An option of course is sanctioning Israeli ministers and some of the extremist settler leaders. The Trudeau government in 2024 did place sanctions on four extremist settlers because of the violence they carried out in the West Bank. So this wasn't to do with Gaza. The sanctions mean they can't travel to Canada and any assets these individuals have here are frozen. The Trudeau government also blocked new permits to export military goods, so this is like ammunition, to Israel. So we could see more of this, but no details yet. Certainly

the Europeans and especially the British have gone further, faster than Canada has so far. Okay. I wonder how did Israel, and I guess specifically Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, how have they responded to this? The reality is that Canada doesn't have a lot of leverage in this conflict. We just haven't been that engaged in the region meaningfully for quite a long time. So criticism from Canada on its own doesn't really matter very much to Mr. Netanyahu. However, after Prime Minister Carney's joint statement, the Israeli Prime Minister did hit back quite quickly and very hard. And he said that this joint statement

handed a prize, as he called it, to Hamas and was inviting more atrocities against Israel. So this joint statement by the Europeans in Canada is unlikely to have an impact on what the Americans do. This is because the relationship between the US and Canada is unlikely to have an impact on what the Americans do. This is because the relationship between the US and Israel is highly unusual. It's very, very tight. The Americans give more economic and military aid to Israel than any other country. It's about $3 billion a year. And there's been very little difference between Democrat and Republican policies towards Israel

for a long time. But the statement is still significant because it is part of a bigger picture. Israel's historic allies are beginning to publicly criticize it, adding to a sense that Israel is beginning to be isolated on the global stage. And isolation from the West does matter to Israel. It needs economic, diplomatic, and cultural relationships with the West to survive. They don't have many friends in their own neighborhood. We'll be right back.

Well, let me ask you then about the relationship between the US and Israel, because it sounds like the US is the most important ally to Israel. President Donald Trump was in the region last week but did not stop in the country. So what does all of this signal to you, Hamidah? So the Trump administration seems exasperated by Netanyahu. Donald Trump was in the Middle East last week. He did not visit Israel. He visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. And the divergence of views between the Israeli prime minister and the

current administration seem quite stark. Israel has been bombing Syria, but the Americans are now lifting sanctions on Syria. That's another point of divergence. And the big one is Iran. There's a sense that the Israeli prime minister would like to attack Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities, but the Trump administration is sending signals that it wants to make some sort of deal with Iran and not get involved in a military conflict. Okay. So these are new points of divergence then between Israel and the United States. They are. Whether it translates into a break and a change on America's policy towards Israel, it's too

soon to say. But where things stand now, there is a perception that Israel is being snubbed, possibly isolated, and a divergence of views between the current Israeli prime minister and the Trump administration. But I think it's also worth pointing out that Mr. Netanyahu has a long history of conflict with American presidents, whether they are Democrat or Republican. It is worth pointing out though that when the Israeli Prime Minister visited the White House earlier this year, Mr. Trump made a sarcastic comment during the press

conference about the billions of dollars that Israel receives from the U.S. every year. But will any of this change U.S. policy? There's no signs of that so far. Israel continues to have almost unquestioned bipartisan support among Republican and Democratic politicians. Okay. There was also news about the last remaining American hostage in Gaza. This is Eden Alexander. Can you just tell me what happened there? I guess I'm wondering how this affects the broader relationship. So Eden Alexander is a 21-year-old Israeli soldier.

He was captured by Hamas at the start of the war. He's also an American citizen. On May the 12th, Hamas let him go. But the circumstances of his release were troubling in some respects. And this is because the Americans and Hamas negotiated directly together, and it looks like Israel was sidestepped, and Israel was only notified that he would be released the day before. In reading local media, so Israeli newspapers, there was a sense of shock that Israel wasn't

involved in his release. And the message that the Israelis heard was that if you're an American citizen, the US can get you out, but the Israeli government cannot or will not. Amir Tibon is an Israeli newspaper columnist, and he called it a failure of the commitment of the Israeli state never to abandon our people and never to leave them behind. It's important to point out to listeners here that the Jewish state was founded on these principles, never to abandon the Jewish people, never to leave them behind. And so there's a sense that the hostages are being forgotten and they may be left behind.

And so we talked about signs of a possible split between Israel and its Western allies. But as this war drags on, there are also signs of fractures within Israel. The public clearly wants all hostages returned home, even if it means cutting a deal with Hamas and ending the war. Public opinion polls show this. But the Eden Alexander story shows that the Israeli prime minister seems to be prioritizing the continuation of the war and Maybe out of step with Israeli public opinion. Let me ask you about pushback against Hamas Have we seen any political action from from people in Gaza?

Yes, so Hamas has been in power since 2007 and in that time, Gaza has been destroyed multiple times. It's very clear that Hamas doesn't care about human life very much. It's very clear that it would rather accept the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza than surrender. So there have been a few protests against Hamas. The Palestinians who live there recognize that Hamas does not serve their interests. But these protesters are punished, sometimes are arrested, some have been killed. It seems that there's little the Palestinians in Gaza can do to change Hamas's trajectory

when it's clear that Hamas's wider goals isn't the well-being of the people of Gaza. And in the meantime, a lot of suffering is actually happening then as a result. Okay, so Amita, we've talked a little bit about how some countries like Canada, the UK, France, have come out against some of the actions of Israel, in particular around this not letting humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. So let's talk about this blockade of humanitarian aid. This started on March 2nd when Netanyahu ordered that all aid, including food, stop being let into Gaza. So what is it like living in the Gaza Strip right now?

We recently published a report by Hassan Jabr, who's a journalist living in Gaza. Hassan has been working with the Globe for many years. And he sent us a heartbreaking eyewitness account of what daily life is like for him and his family. Hassan lives in a refugee camp with his wife and their four children. They have no electricity, very little running water. They all sleep in one room, far from the doors

and windows because they worry about bombs and drones that come at night. But what really resonated in Hassan's story is that he is preoccupied with finding food for his family. They eat mostly canned beans. Food in the Gaza Strip is scarce and very expensive. A kilo of flour costs $15. A kilo of vegetables, if vegetables are available, eggplants, tomatoes, onions, a kilo costs $13. And to put that into context, the average daily wage in Gaza is $13. Wow. So that's like a whole wage basically on a bag of potatoes or something. Yeah, that's right. And very few people can afford this. So many families have been relying on community kitchens. These are food centers all over Gaza, neighborhoods where people

can get free meals donated by aid agencies. But even the community kitchens, a lot of them are closing down because of the food shortage. Hassan writes that people are dropping on the streets from hunger and exhaustion. The UN, meanwhile, says that one in five people are facing starvation, and many of these are small children and even babies. There's no formula coming into Gaza, and mothers aren't getting enough nourishment to produce breast milk. So the crisis is acute.

Yeah. I think, honestly, this is pretty hard for a lot of people to understand when you're talking about children especially not having enough food here. What does the Israeli government say about why they're blocking this aid from coming in? The Israeli defense minister called the food blockade, quote, a main pressure lever on Hamas to force it to release hostages and surrender. Mr. Netanyahu says that Hamas is stealing food and fuel meant for civilians and that there wasn't really a shortage. Do we know if there's truth to that, that a lot of this aid is being looted? It's a good question.

So the UN and other organizations say that stealing and looting has happened, but it's because of scarcity. Okay. I guess to be clear here then Hamida, is there any aid currently getting into the territory? Some aid is now getting in. There's been a lot of international pressure on Israel since this offensive began. So as of Wednesday, about 100 trucks have been allowed in, but it's not enough. The aid agencies say to put into context, the UN says 600 trucks per day are needed.

Okay, so if 100 have been let in, we're far short of what is actually needed here. They're calling it a drop in the ocean. For a while there weren't any trucks being let in to Gaza, and now it sounds like there is at least a few. Do we know why Netanyahu and Israel changed their mind there? So Mr. Netanyahu said in a video message that the decision to allow some aid in was made for diplomatic reasons to keep the support of U.S. senators who did not want to see images of hungry or starving Palestinians. He said that food trucks will be allowed in, quote, just enough to prevent hunger.

Has there been any discussion about providing more aid in the future? So from what we understand, the Israeli prime minister said that food trucks are temporary. They will continue until food distribution centers are set up around Gaza. And this is part of another plan. So an entity called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been set up with backing from

the US and Israel. There's been no official announcement, but the BBC has been reporting on it and a few other respected news organizations. And the way the BBC has been reporting it is that four distribution hubs will be set up in Gaza to give out food. The work of distributing the food and aid will be done by private defense contractors, which is a fancy way of saying mercenaries.

The US ambassador to Israel has said that the Israeli military will secure these distribution centers and it's meant to be a way to deliver food that bypasses Hamas. Okay, this is an interesting plan. Like, as you say, mercenaries being a part of this distribution. What have aid organizations like traditionally the UN or the Red Cross is involved in this. What have they said about this plan? The UN has rejected the plan on the basis that it violates humanitarian principles of being independent, impartial, and they say that it militarizes food aid. The UN has also said that

they've got about 9,000 trucks worth of aid already in position and ready to enter Gaza, as well as a system in place with local Palestinians to ensure that the aid is delivered directly to civilians without it being stolen. And so they say that they will not cooperate with this Israeli U.S. plan. We mentioned a little bit about the ceasefire that was on for a bit that then broke apart. Where are the ceasefire negotiations these days, Hamidah? So while the fighting has been going on in Gaza, the negotiations actually have been happening. They've been continuing in Qatar.

The Qatari government is mediating, and so are the Americans led by Mr. Trump's envoy, Steve Woodcoff. It's not looking hopeful. Mr. Netanyahu's government refuses the suggestions of ending the war in exchange for the return of the remaining hostages. He says that the fighting can only end when Hamas is removed. Hamas has said it wants to remain in power and Israel must withdraw

from Gaza. If Israel's intention in this new offensive is to take control of Gaza, it's not clear what incentive there is for Hamas to stop fighting and release the hostages. The Qatari Prime Minister himself this week actually admitted that the differences between the two sides are too wide to bridge. AMT – I guess just lastly here, is there anything that could possibly change to bring those two sides closer together? Perhaps US pressure. The Americans hold the real levers, which is money and weapons.

Perhaps pressure from Hamas's internal ranks. Hamas does actually have some pragmatic leaders within its ranks. These are the people who live in Qatar. The organization is not on monolith. So as long as talks continue, there must be some hope, right? Hmm. Hamidah, thank you so much for taking the time to be here today.

Thank you so much for having me on the show. That was Hamidah Ghaffoor, the Globe's Deputy Foreign Editor. Later on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Onond said that four Canadian personnel were part of a delegation in the West Bank when Israel Defense Forces fired shots in their vicinity. Onond said she summoned Israel's ambassador to, quote, "'convey Canada's serious concerns,' end quote.

She added, "' we expect a full investigation and accountability. The Israeli military said the group had, quote, deviated from the approved route and entered an area where they were not authorized to be, end quote. They added that soldiers had fired warning shots. added that soldiers had fired warning shots. That's it for today. I'm Maynika Ramon-Wilms.

Our intern is Kelsey Howlett. Our associate producer is Aja Souter. Our producers are Madeleine White, Michal Stein, and Ali Graham. David Crosby edits the show. Adrian Chung is our senior producer and Matt Fraynor is our managing editor. Thanks so much for listening and I'll talk to you tomorrow.