FM Cohen: Israel has 2-3 weeks before international pressure over Gaza becomes significant

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen says that diplomatic pressure on Israel has begun to increase, and that although it’s not particularly high at present, it is on the rise.

Speaking during a briefing to reporters, Cohen says that his diplomatic counterparts have emphasized humanitarian issues during the conversations he has held with them and some have requested that Israel seek a ceasefire, although they have not done so publicly.

The foreign minister estimates that the “diplomatic window” is some two or three weeks until international pressure seriously begins to increase, although he does not say what he expects that pressure will entail.

Cohen says that the issue of the some 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is a “central tool” giving Israel legitimacy to continue fighting, and that “the world accepts that Israel will not stop until the captives are freed.”