Israel’s sudden decision to indefinitely close the sole land crossing giving over 3 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank access to international travel, has intensified fears of more restrictions amid Israel’s threats of retaliation against Western recognition of a Palestinian state.

Palestinians across the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank are welcoming news that some Western countries have recognized a Palestinian state.

Yet 174 months after Mr Barak’s warning, Mr Netanyahu sounds like his rival. In a speech on September 15th he acknowledged that Israel was indeed becoming isolated. The solution was to become “super-Sparta”, he argued, and “adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics”.

There has been a recent rush of countries to formally recognise the state of Palestine. Affirming Palestinian sovereignty marks a historic diplomatic milestone, yet the exact layout of its territory, a central requirement under international law, remains fiercely contested from every hilltop in the West Bank to the ruins of Gaza.

The fast-moving diplomatic events are mostly symbolic, but the resentment across Israel’s political class shows how isolated the Jewish state has become two years into its war with Hamas.

Three Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel were executed  by masked Hamas terrorists in front of a cheering crowd in Gaza on Sunday.

They are among the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled Gaza City since Israel launched a new offensive last week. Israel dropped leaflets and posted on social media to warn civilians to move south. Israeli officials claim Gaza City contains about 3,000 Hamas fighters and is the group’s last major stronghold.

A senior Hamas official has defended carrying out the deadly October 7 attacks on Israel, telling CNN that it created a “golden moment” for the Palestinian cause despite the tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza.