Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

COMMENT

Why ‘peacemaker’ Trump has blood on his hands over Gaza massacre

Israel has killed more than 400 Palestinians in a renewed onslaught in the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, sparking international outrage. Simon Walters says that the US president has much to answer for as the fragile two-month ceasefire comes to a catastrophic end

Tuesday 18 March 2025 18:48 GMT
Comments
Netanyahu praises Trump's idea for US to take over Gaza

Unsurprisingly, most observers have pinned the blame for Israel’s shocking attack on Gaza which killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to local health officials, on the shoulders of one man: Benjamin Netanyahu.

It can be argued that Netanyahu would never have sanctioned the massacre without the explicit support of Donald Trump.

Diplomats have confirmed the Gaza attack was “co-ordinated” with the US government. In reality, Trump’s personal involvement is greater than that.

He has repeatedly warned of “all hell being unleashed” on Hamas if they do not free Israeli hostages, amid the dispute over which side is obeying the ceasefire.

Hamas says 404 people were killed by the latest airstrikes – with Gaza's Health Ministry saying at least 263 of those confirmed dead were women or children – meaning that more than 400 Palestinians now know what that kind of Trump hell means: death.

When it comes to matters of war and peace – whether it is Gaza or Ukraine – Trump and Netanyahu are clearly one and the same thing.

While most of the world reacted with horror to Trump’s preposterous vow to remove Palestinians from Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, Netanyahu was thrilled.

While most of the world was appalled when America voted against condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when it was discussed at the United Nations, Israel voted on the side of the US.

The way that Trump, in effect, endorsed Israel’s latest outrage in Gaza, makes a mockery of his claim to be a peacemaker in Ukraine – or anywhere else.

Trump presents two contrasting faces to the world. One is the self-styled peacemaker who craves a Nobel peace prize and claims he wants a ceasefire in Ukraine to end the killing.

And the other is the vengeful warmonger who vows to “unleash hell” on Palestinians, or almost any other group that stands in the way of the ragbag of prejudice, gangster-like threats and self interest that passes for today’s US foreign policy, giving a callous thumbs up to Netanyahu slaughtering 400 Palestinians, including more than 100 children, trampling on a different ceasefire.

No “peacemaker” has ever had such double standards and blunderbuss methods as this.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in