Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Monday that international pressure on Israel to halt the ground operation in Gaza is increasing, although at this stage the demands are made only in closed talks and not in public.
In a briefing to political reporters, Cohen noted that "we are seeing unprecedented international support, which is expressed, among other things, in an airlift of solidarity and support visits. So far, 45 such visits have arrived, including 30 foreign ministers and heads of state (including those of the United States, Germany, Britain, France and other major countries)."
Cohen added, "Of particular note is the visit of Japan's foreign minister, which marks a warming of relations and a change in Japan's attitude toward Israel and the conflict."
According to Cohen, the reason for the support is that the crisis has global aspects. "It's no longer Muslims murdering Muslims, it's harming a Western world. It connects to our message: The West is Next. The world is waking up and realizing that this is a different kind of event."
However, according to Cohen, as time passes and there are more pictures of the results of the Israeli campaign in Gaza, the international community begins to forget the horrors of the massacre and shifts to pressure Israel.
"Politically, we recognize that pressure is beginning on Israel. The pressure is not very high, but it is on the rise. In the talks I hold, emphasis is placed on the humanitarian issue. The part of solidarity and shock at the October 7 massacre is reduced. There are also those who ask, not publicly, for a ceasefire."
However, Cohen made sure to emphasize that Israel's military activity would continue even against the wishes of the international community. "We will proceed according to plans," he said.
In addition, the foreign minister revealed that Israel had begun coordinating with friendly countries in Europe in the area a maritime humanitarian corridor that would deliver necessary aid to the Gaza Strip through the local port. The precise arrangements and security aspects of the corridor are currently being examined and completion of the plans is expected within a few weeks.
The UAE has also begun training a field hospital in the Hamwasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, in the "safe zone," as approved by Israel. An Egyptian field hospital in Egyptian Rafah, a hospital ship from France that will arrive in the area in the coming days, and an attempt by the Red Cross to establish a field hospital inside the Gaza Strip are also being built.
It should be noted that Cohen will leave tomorrow for the Red Cross headquarters in Geneva with a representative of the families of the abductees in order to keep their suffering on the international agenda.
It is important to note that the question of the "day after" in Gaza also concerns the Foreign Ministry, according to the conversation. "We are holding discussions on the subject at the Foreign Ministry. At the moment, we have no interest in discussing with the world the issue of the day after, because it will increase the pressure on Israel," said Minister Cohen, a member of Israel's security cabinet. However, it added a new layer to Israel's modus operandi: the elimination of Hamas, temporary military control of the territory, and then the complete severing of ties between Gaza and Israel. No transitions. No workers.
"The understanding in Israel is that there will no longer be a connection between Israel and Gaza," Cohen said, "not a connection of goods and not a connection of movement of people and workers."
This is an official reference by an Israeli source to the future of the Gaza Strip, independent of Israel, in a way that will greatly undermine the implementation of the American forecast regarding the region: PA rule is united between the West Bank and Gaza. Cohen clarified that the intention is very clear: "The DCO can become a museum."
Cohen, like Netanyahu before him, makes it clear to the United States that the desire to impose the PA the day after Hamas is impossible in accordance with the current political concept.
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