Dubai: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suspended coordination of humanitarian aid with Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza earlier this week, according to Israeli media reports. The UAE foreign minister has expressed ‘outrage’ with the Israeli ambassador Amir Hayek over the incident, reported i24news media outlet.

This came days after the UAE paused humanitarian aid efforts through a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza pending further safety guarantees from Israel and a full investigation into the deaths of aid workers in Gaza, a UAE official told Reuters on Tuesday. The UAE has financed the aid shipments by sea to Gaza and WCK has organised them.

Efforts are underway to address the crisis, as Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz engaged in a phone call with his Emirati counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed. Furthermore, Yaakov Blitshtein,  Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, met with UAE Ambassador Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Khaja in an attempt to find a resolution. Al-Khaja described the current state of affairs as “the darkest day in the relations between the countries.”

Some of Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, on Tuesday condemned the deaths of seven aid workers who were killed by airstrikes in Gaza a loss that prompted multiple charities to suspend food deliveries to Palestinians on the brink of starvation. The strike threatened to set back efforts by the US and other countries to open a maritime corridor for aid from Cyprus as the war nears six months.

Biden warns Netanyahu over deaths of aid workers

US President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a 30-minute phone call, where he warned the latter that further support for the Gaza war will depend on Israel’s implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers, adding a new layer of complication to the leaders’ increasingly strained relationship.

Biden’s message marks a sharp change in his administration’s steadfast support for Israel’s war efforts, with the US leader for the first time threatening to rethink his backing if Israel doesn’t change its tactics and allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The White House would not specify what could change about US policy, but it could include altering military sales to Israel and America’s diplomatic backup on the world stage.

Biden also told Netanyahu that an “immediate cease-fire is essential” and urged Israel to reach such an accord “without delay,” according to the White House. The leaders’ conversation comes as the World Central Kitchen, founded by restauranteur José Andrés to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the group’s staff members, including an American citizen.

Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that US support would be curtailed if Israel doesn’t make significant adjustments to how it’s carrying out the war. “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy,” he said. White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed the call for “tangible” and “concrete” changes to be taken by the Israelis beyond reiterating long-stated calls for allowing additional aid to get into Gaza.

Israel’s increasing isolation

After nearly six months of war, the Israeli retaliation for the October 7 attacks, where Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage in southern Israel, has flattened the coastal enclave of Gaza and killed over 33,000 Palestinians, triggering a humanitarian catastrophe and strengthening calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Despite Israel’s fierce military onslaught, Hamas is still standing, if significantly weakened. The offensive has pushed Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 80 per cent of the population and leaving over 1 million people on the brink of starvation.

Initial expressions of solidarity from Israel’s allies have given way to calls for a halt to the fighting. Meanwhile, the UN World Court, looking into genocide allegations against Israel, has ordered Israel to do more to protect Gaza’s civilians. Things have only worsened for Israel since then, especially following its killing of seven aid workers in what Netanyahu said was an “unintended” airstrike.

On top of that, weekly protests against the government have grown and attracted thousands. They are rooted in longstanding grievances against Netanyahu — from his political alliances with far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties to his open-ended corruption trial. However, they have drawn new strength from his failure to bring home the hostages.

(with inputs from agencies)

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