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Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks to the media as he arrives at the 5th EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium, July 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has dismissed mounting global pressure to end the war in Gaza and accept the creation of a Palestinian state, saying Israel would not “commit suicide” to appease countries that have “lost control over their own streets.”
“We are witnessing a distorted campaign of international pressure against Israel over recent days,” Saar said during a special press conference on Tuesday.
“This campaign fuels the antisemitism wave we are witnessing,” he continued, referring to the alarming rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes around the world since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel will not be the Czechoslovakia of the 21st century. We won’t sacrifice our own existence for the sake of the appeasement countries.
My statement at a press conference this morning >> pic.twitter.com/NASGGZ9lvG
— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 29, 2025
Last week, foreign ministers from over 25 countries called for an end to the war in Gaza, citing growing concerns over Israel’s new aid distribution model, which they claimed has fueled “instability.”
These latest international diplomatic efforts to curb Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian terror group Hamas come as France announced it will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September — part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
The decision came after Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia officially recognized a Palestinian state last year, claiming that such a move would contribute to fostering a two-state solution and promote lasting peace in the region. Folling France’s announcement, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity. However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his cabinet on Tuesday that Britain will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza
France is now urging other nations to join its initiative.
“When they demand an end to this war, what do they really mean? Ending the war while Hamas remains in power in Gaza. That would be a tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Saar said during the press conference. “The French Foreign Minister said in New York yesterday that Europe must pressure Israel to accept a two-state solution. Establishing a Palestinian state today is establishing a Hamas state, a jihadi state.”
As ceasefire negotiations between the Jewish state and the Iran-backed terror group continue to stall, Israel faces mounting international criticism, with many accusing it of causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
However, Israeli officials have dismissed these claims as inaccurate, politically motivated, and disconnected from reality.
Israel has also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
At the press conference, Saar emphasized that this international pressure campaign “will not lead Israel to commit suicide.”
“We won’t allow a jihadist terror state in the heart of our ancient homeland,” he said. “We won’t give up our basic interest for the sake of internal politics in certain countries that have lost control over their own streets. But still they arrogantly presume to decide what’s good for our security.”
Saar also argued that the pressure on Israel was backfiring, causing Hamas to “harden its position” in the ceasefire negotiations. He maintained that such an international campaign should be directed solely at Hamas.
The top Israeli diplomat went on to dismiss recent accusations of starvation in Gaza as “false propaganda” spread by the media.
“If we are speaking about the last two months, more than 5,000 trucks have entered the Gaza Strip,” he said, adding that Israel opened additional humanitarian corridors on Sunday.
“We are working very hard under very complicated circumstances, from the beginning of the war until this day, in order to facilitate the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” Saar continued.
Israeli officials have argued they have gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, despite Hamas’s widely acknowledged military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.