Political pressure on Israel is mounting – but the government refuses to give in. Foreign Minister Saar also made it clear: a two-state solution will not be possible with the terrorist organization Hamas in power.

Pressure on the Israeli government is increasing. But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar appears unimpressed, calling it a—literally—distorted campaign designed to put pressure on Israel.

Sa'ar, for his part, goes on the offensive:"This campaign is fueling the wave of anti-Semitism we are currently experiencing. What does the call for an end to this war really mean?" asks the foreign minister."Ending the war while Hamas remains in power in Gaza would be a tragedy for Israelis and Palestinians."

Just yesterday, the EU Commission recommended suspending funding for Israeli start-ups that are developing products that could also be used for military purposes.

Netherlands: Israeli ministers are undesirable persons

Now the Netherlands has become the second EU country to impose a travel ban on two Israeli ministers. Finance Minister Smotrich and Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir, both members of the far-right camp, have been declared undesirable. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp justified the measure, citing, among other things,"ethnic cleansing" in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has clearly rejected demands for the recognition of Palestine as a state. This is currently being discussed at the Palestine Conference in New York. This would make the two-state solution a reality. A reality that will not happen in this form, says Saar.

"The establishment of a Palestinian state today would be the establishment of a Hamas state, a jihadist state," Saar continued."That will not happen." There are countries in Europe with a large Muslim population."Sometimes that influences the policies of their governments, but that cannot and will not drive Israel to suicide," Saar said."We will not allow a jihadist terrorist state in the heart of our ancient homeland."

World Food Programme: "This is a call to action"

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip appears to be worsening further. While more than a hundred truckloads of aid are now arriving in the war zone every day, and there are also airdrops of pallets of food and medicine, this is still far too little to improve the catastrophic supply situation, says Ross Smith, the World Food Programme's emergency director. If swift action isn't taken, he predicts famine is imminent.

"It's clear that a disaster is unfolding before our very eyes, in front of our television screens. This is not a warning. This is a call to action," Smith said."We've never seen anything like this in this century." It's reminiscent of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the last century."It's clear that we must act urgently now," Smith demanded."So this is definitely not a warning. This is a call to action."

Israel's Finance Minister wants to annex the West Bank

Meanwhile, the far-right members of the Israeli coalition continue to try to change the maps of the Middle East. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made it clear that his stated goal is the Israeli repopulation of the Gaza Strip and the annexation of the West Bank. For 20 years, this was merely wishful thinking. Now there is a realistic plan. Gaza enables Israel to think bigger, Smotrich said at an event south of Tel Aviv.

The right-wing extremist politician also has plans for the West Bank. He says the Israeli government will assume formal sovereignty over the West Bank during its term in office.