Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli Defence Forces to seize 70 per cent of Gaza. Not a gradual escalation, not a measured response, but a lurch towards full military dominance. In London, the Foreign Office swiftly reiterated its support for a two-state solution, calling it the only viable path. One wonders: viable for whom?
The news lands with a strange dissonance. On the one hand, the Prime Minister’s directive suggests a final, crushing move. On the other, the UK’s insistence on a diplomatic settlement feels like a script read from a decade-old playbook. The two realities refuse to align, and it is the people on the ground – both in Gaza and in the corridors of Whitehall – who feel the friction.
Let us consider the human cost first. Expanding control to 70 per cent means more displacement, more families crammed into shrinking safe zones. It means checkpoints, identity checks, the slow erosion of normal life. For those who remain, every day becomes a calculation of risk: when to queue for water, which route to take to avoid gunfire. This is not strategy. This is lived trauma.
Then there is the cultural shift. The two-state solution has become a diplomatic ritual, invoked with decreasing conviction. Each time it is mentioned without new mechanisms, it loses credibility. Young Britons, watching the crisis unfold on their phones, see the gap between rhetoric and action. They ask: if this is the only path, why does it lead nowhere? The disconnect breeds cynicism. Trust in institutions frays.
Class dynamics also play their part. In the UK, the debate is increasingly split along demographic lines. Older voters, weaned on the Oslo Accords, cling to the two-state mantra. Younger voters, diverse and globally connected, view it as a relic. They demand accountability, not repetition. Meanwhile, in Gaza, there is no class distinction in suffering. The bombs fall on rich and poor alike, though the rich might have a quicker escape route. That is the only privilege left.
What does this mean for the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham? Pro-Palestinian marches will grow. The government will urge restraint, but the chants will not quieten. This is not about foreign policy anymore; it is about identity. Taking a side has become a statement of who you are, which values you hold. And with each new escalation, the middle ground disappears.
Netanyahu’s order may achieve tactical goals. But the strategic picture is bleaker. Every hectare seized sows the seeds of future resistance. Every diplomatic platitude uttered without action hollows out the peace camp. The UK must understand: you cannot offer a two-state solution as a balm while allowing the reality to be a one-state occupation. The words and the deeds must align, or the words will become worthless.
This is the moment for clarity. Not for slogans. The people on both sides deserve a future that is not carved out by tanks and vetoes. They deserve a vision that matches the complexity of the present. Anything less is a betrayal.
