Even as the rest of the world is witnessing a realignment of forces due to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Middle East is also on the cusp of change due to Trump’s latest statement expressing displeasure with Israel’s continued belligerence.
There is growing opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel itself. Many European countries have condemned Israel’s non-stop aggression in Gaza and have declared their intention to recognise a Palestinian state. Countries like the UAE and Qatar, which had signed the Abraham Accord, are backtracking on it, seeing Israeli belligerence.
Downturn in US-Israel Relations
US-Israel relations, which until recently were considered iron-clad, are now showing signs of strain. In a Daily Caller interview, Trump claimed that his administration had done more for Israel than any before, yet the once-dominant pro-Israel lobby in Congress, Washington, and among young Republicans is weaker now. “Today, Israel doesn’t have that strong a lobby.”
“It’s amazing. There was a time where you couldn’t speak bad about Israel if you wanted to be a politician. But today, you have, you know, AOC plus three, and you have all these lunatics, and they’ve really, they’ve changed it,” Trump said, referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the Democratic Congresswoman for New York.
He also pointed out that “people forgot about October 7th,” referring to the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023.
Trump said that while Israel may be winning the war, “they’re not winning the world of public relations. It is hurting Israel. There’s no question about it. They’re gonna have to get that war over with… It is hurting Israel. Young people across the globe look at this with horror.”
But Trump is still committed to an Israeli takeover of Gaza because he believes that Hamas will release the remaining hostages only after it is destroyed.
This accords with Israel’s plan. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are determined to take over Gaza City in four or five months, after which Netanyahu hopes to launch an operation to conquer the refugee camps in the Central Strip.
UK’s Revises Stand
Meanwhile, a number of Western countries, led by France and Britain, recently announced they would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly later in September.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament last week that government officials intend to conduct a formal assessment in the coming days of whether Israel has met a series of tests from Britain. These conditions, announced in late July, included that Israel agree to a ceasefire and commit not to annex any of the occupied West Bank.
Since Israel is continuing to wage war in Gaza and is reportedly gearing up to annex the West Bank, the government is on track to recognise Palestine before the UN General Assembly.
Lammy told parliament that the UK would give an additional £15m in aid and medical care for Gaza and the region.
He also restated “our intention to recognise the State of Palestine later this month, unless the Israeli Government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza and commits to a long-term sustainable peace.”
Lammy added: “We have been clear that any Palestinian state should be demilitarised.”
He decried the “man-made famine” in Gaza and noted that since 1 July, “over 300 people have died from malnutrition, including 119 children. More than 132,000 children under the age of five are at risk of dying from hunger by June of next year.”
Lammy added: “I am outraged by the Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid.”
Last month, the government published a memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian Authority, which said Britain is committed to “the two-state solution based on 1967 lines” and “does not recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as part of Israel.”
The memorandum declares: “The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, must be reunified under its sole authority.”
It adds that “the UK affirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people of self-determination, including to an independent state.”
In a significant statement of British support for the Palestinian Authority, the document insists that the PA “must have the central role in the next phase in Gaza on governance, security and early recovery.”
British officials have previously demanded that Hamas should disarm and end its rule in Gaza.
Despite longstanding UK military help to Israel during its genocide in the besieged Palestinian territory, Israeli leaders have angrily condemned Downing Street over its threat to sanction the state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the UK and other countries pledging to recognise a Palestinian state of siding with Hamas.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament on Monday that officials are expediting visas for those Palestinians, as well as their accompanying family members. British media has reported that officials are facilitating the evacuation of nine students in Gaza who were awarded Chevening scholarships, funded by Britain’s Foreign Office, but that dozens of other Palestinian students who have offers to study in the UK are still in limbo.
The UK funds field hospital operations in Gaza through a charity and works with the World Health Organization in Egypt to help treat some of the 8,000 people from Gaza who have been medically evacuated there.
France Leads European Pack
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday decried the “unacceptable” US decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the United Nations General Assembly later this month, when France is set to recognise a Palestinian state.
“We call for this measure to be reversed and for Palestinian representation to be ensured in accordance with the Host Country Agreement,” Macron said in a statement after speaking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The two countries are holding a conference in New York promoting a two-state solution on 22 September, the day before the General Assembly kicks off.
Writing on X, Macron called for a “permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and the deployment of a stabilization mission in Gaza.”
He said that France was working to “ensure that, the day after, Hamas is disarmed and excluded from any governance of Gaza, that the Palestinian Authority is reformed and strengthened, and that the Gaza Strip is fully reconstructed.”
“No offensive, annexation attempt, or forced displacement of populations will derail the momentum we have created with the crown prince — momentum that many partners have already joined,” Macron said.
SCO Including India Condemns Israel
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) said on Monday that its members, who include China, India, Russia, and Iran, “strongly condemn acts causing civilian casualties and humanitarian disasters in Gaza,” according to a statement published by Xinhua news agency.
The 10-member SCO said they also strongly condemned US and Israeli strikes on Iran in June, in the statement issued after a summit of the 10 member states in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.
“Member states express deep concern over escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict; strongly condemn acts causing civilian casualties and humanitarian disasters in Gaza; call for comprehensive, lasting ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian aid,” it said.
Qatar
A Qatari PM’s aide said that the offer that Arab mediators convinced Hamas to accept is 98% of what Steve Witkoff proposed, before Israel began demanding new concessions that make the deal impossible.
Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar stuck to the existing script — a two-month truce during which roughly half of the remaining hostages would be freed, while Israel and Hamas would hold talks on a permanent ceasefire and the release of the remaining captives at the conclusion of those 60 days.
Cairo and Doha deemed the gaps that existed after Hamas’s 24 July proposal small enough to fill, compared to the vast void that would exist between the sides if talks were to be held on a one-phase deal to end the war.
Right-Wing Israelis Support Truce
Two-thirds of Israelis support the prospect of a ceasefire that would see the release of hostages held by terror groups in the Gaza Strip, along with an end to the war there, including a full Israeli military withdrawal.
Even among right-wing respondents, more said they also back such an agreement than oppose it, according to the results of a poll published on Wednesday.
Among voters for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, just over half said they would support such a framework, the Israel Democracy Institute survey found.
The survey came after the government ordered the Israel Defence Forces to prepare a major operation to conquer Gaza City, despite pushback from the military, which has reportedly advised reaching a ceasefire deal instead.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on 7 October 2023, during their massive invasion of southern Israel that also killed 1,200 people and triggered the war.
Asked if Israel should agree to a deal that would release all hostages, end hostilities, and see the IDF pull out of Gaza, 64.5% said it should. Among Jewish Israelis, 62% back such a deal, while 81% of Arab Israelis support it. There were 6.5% of respondents who said they don’t know.
On the political left, 92% favour such a deal; in the centre, 77%; while on the right, 47% were in favour compared to 44% who were opposed.
“More than half of the voters for Likud, United Torah Judaism, and Shas support such a deal,” the IDI said in a statement, naming two ultra-Orthodox parties allied with Netanyahu, while noting that only among voters for the far-right Religious Zionism party was there less support, at just 23%.
Among voters for Netanyahu’s Likud party, 52% support such a deal.
Regarding the expansion of military operations in Gaza, which has required the call-up of tens of thousands of reservists, 49% of Israelis said they opposed it, and 42% were in favour. Support was stronger among Jewish Israelis, with a plurality of 49% backing the plan, while 81% of Arab Israelis, who make up about one-fifth of the overall population, opposed it.
“There is a substantial share of Israelis who support a hostage deal that involves a full withdrawal from Gaza while also saying they support the expansion of fighting in Gaza,” IDI’s Tamar Hermann said in the statement. “This is due to the context-specific nature of each question – many Israelis prioritize bringing the hostages home even at a great cost, but if a deal cannot be struck, they support the expansion of operations in Gaza.”
Jewish Israelis were also 53% in support of settlements in Gaza, while 86.5% of Arab Israelis oppose them. Most on the left and centre oppose settlements, while most on the right back them. The poll found that support increased in line with levels of religiosity, with the highest rate of support among the ultra-Orthodox (75%) and lowest among secular Israelis (21%).
However, the IDI found that just over a third of those “who support the expansion of the fighting and Jewish settlement in Gaza also support a deal for the return of all the abductees,” which would see the IDF withdraw, thereby nixing the possibility of settlements.
Over half of the general public (53%) said they think leaders are not doing enough to bring the hostages home.
The August 2025 Israeli Voice Index was prepared by the IDI’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research. It was conducted via the internet and telephone, between 24–28 August 2025, with 600 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 150 in Arabic. The margin of error was given as ±3.58% at a confidence level of 95%.