Philippines’ DFA says Gaza offensive dims hopes for peace in Middle East

THE PHILIPPINES on Monday said Israel’s military offensive in Gaza City could further derail efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Jerusalem’s planned military takeover of Gaza and its continued blockade of humanitarian aid threaten to worsen the “humanitarian catastrophe” and undermine regional stability.

“These developments aggravate an already dire humanitarian situation and further diminish prospects for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East,” the agency said.

It added that the Philippines “joins the international community in its urgent call for an end to the ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” citing Israel’s alleged restrictions on food and water, large-scale displacement and civilian casualties in Gaza and reports of settlement expansion in the West Bank.

The Embassy of Israel in Manila declined to comment.

In a Facebook post at the weekend, the embassy said claims of famine in Gaza are “politically motivated and false,” noting that Israel facilitates massive humanitarian aid every single day, while Hamas exploits it for its own purposes.

“Since the beginning of the war, over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza, with nearly 80% consisting of food,” it said, citing the daily entry of humanitarian aid trucks carrying food, medicine, water and shelter supplies.

In August alone, food trucks delivered the equivalent of 4,400 calories per person per day, it said, adding that market prices of food in Gaza have dropped sharply, “proving increased availability.”

Israeli forces launched an assault on the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City at the weekend as part of the nation’s plan to seize the territory’s largest urban area and defeat the terrorist group Hamas, which Gazans elected in 2007.

The decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine has seen repeated bouts of violence, mass displacement and failed peace efforts that continue to destabilize the region.

Israel’s military launched an operation in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when about 1,200 people were slaughtered and 251 others were taken hostage.

“Israel understands that the Philippines, for the longest time, has always pursued a humanitarian approach and is convinced of the peaceful settlement of disputes in times of hostilities,” Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a diplomacy instructor at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde’s School of Diplomacy and Governance in Manila, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Jerusalem’s plan to capture Gaza City may stoke tensions in the Middle East, with retaliation likely on the table for Hamas, he added.

“It would be an unwieldy move for Israel to continue pursuing such a proposition as it would just invite further sanctions and global condemnation,” he said. “This, in turn, could undermine its legitimacy.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week said his government would resume talks on the release of hostages held in Gaza and negotiate terms for ending the nearly two-year war, but only under conditions acceptable to Israel.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands, most of them civilians, according to international monitors.

Meanwhile, Hamas militants have agreed to a Qatari- and Egyptian-brokered 60-day truce that would allow the release of half of about 50 hostages still in captivity. About 20 of them are still alive, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“The Philippines therefore strongly calls on Israel to heed the ceasefire proposal as a crucial step to protect civilians and revive the path to peace,” the DFA said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio and Norman P. Aquino