The harsh language of some of Israel’s neighbors and allies contrasted sharply with the United State’s backing for the attacks.

By Canaan Lidor, JNS

Israel’s attacks on Hamas in Gaza Tuesday drew harsh condemnations from several Arab countries, alongside milder expressions of displeasure from European ones, along with calls for a return to the ceasefire.

The governments of several key allies of Israel—including Argentina, Hungary and India—did not comment publicly in the immediate aftermath of the deadly predawn strikes.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Jerusalem had consulted the Trump administration before launching the operation, which the Israeli military named “Strength and Sword.” All of “the terrorists in the Middle East” should take Trump “very seriously when he says he is not afraid to stand for law-abiding people … and our friend and our ally Israel,” she added.

The foreign minister of Germany, which has pursued a relatively pro-Israel policy within the European Union, tweeted that the “ending of the ceasefire in Gaza due to heavy Israeli attacks is disastrous. Fleeing children and internally displaced persons must never be used as leverage in negotiations. International law does not provide for this.”

Hamas “must release the hostages immediately. I call on everyone to respect international humanitarian law and return to talks,” added the minister, Annalena Baerbock.

France “condemns the Israeli strikes carried out since yesterday on the Gaza Strip, which have caused numerous civilian casualties,” the French Foreign Ministry said. It called for an “immediate end to all hostilities” and a return to the ceasefire.

Stopping short of condemning Israel’s actions outright, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the United Kingdom wants “to see this ceasefire agreement re-established as soon as possible,” adding that reported civilian casualties from Israeli strikes overnight were “appalling,” AFP reported.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the Italian senate: “We are following with great concern the resumption of fighting in Gaza,” adding it ”jeopardizes the objectives we are all working towards: the release of all hostages and a permanent end to hostility, as well as the restoration of full humanitarian assistance in the [Gaza] Strip.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, whose government relies on the anti-Islam, pro-Israel Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders, penned a mild-toned message. He called the resumption of hostilities “sad” but did not blame Israel for it.

“Distressing and sad news from Gaza where once again there are very many fatalities. It is in the interest of the Palestinian and Israeli people, especially the families of the hostages, that all parties abide by the agreed terms,” tweeted Schoof. “That means a ceasefire, the release of the hostages and humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza,” he added.

Among E.U. member states, Spain and Malta used some of the harshest language in condemning Israel’s actions.

“We must mourn and reject this new wave of violence and these new bombings, which indiscriminately hit the civilian population,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Onda Cero. Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela said his government  “strongly condemns these barbarous attacks” that left “more than 300 children, women and men dead.”

Internationally, Turkey stood out for its condemnation of the strikes, in which several top Hamas officials were killed.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner that “The Zionist regime” was “a terror state that feeds on the blood, lives and tears of the innocent,” AFP reported.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said: “The massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel’s attacks on Gaza … demonstrates that the Netanyahu government’s genocide policy has entered a new phase.”

According to unverified statistics provided by the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza, more than 400 people died in Israel’s strikes on Tuesday, which Israel said came as a result of Hamas’s refusal to release dozens of hostages it is holding.

Jordan called the strikes “aggressive and barbaric,” underlining “the need to stop this aggression,” according to AFP.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry in a statement voiced “condemnation and denunciation in the strongest terms of the Israeli occupation forces’ resumption of aggression … and their direct bombardment of areas populated by unarmed civilians.”

Russia, which has used inflammatory language against Israel in the past, issued a relatively mild-toned statement.

“Russia strongly condemns any actions that lead to the death of civilians and the destruction of social infrastructure,” its Foreign Ministry said, adding that “Moscow learned with deep regret of Israel’s renewal of its military operation in the Gaza Strip.”

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, tweeted: “I am outraged by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. I strongly appeal for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be reestablished and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally.”