It's awful. It feels like we're just sitting here letting it happen.

But two things have happened that at least show we, at long long last, might be moving in the right direction.

First of all Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will officially recognise Palestine as a state, making it the first G7 country to do so.

Secondly, in the UK things are reaching a point where not recognising Palestine as a state is becoming a real problem. Just since the start of July, dozens of British diplomats have signed a statement calling for the recognition of Palestine, Labour's own MPs have signed a letter calling for it, Senior Bishops* have signed a letter calling for it. The PM, has even said in the past that he intends to officially recognise Palestine as a state "when the time is right".

Why is this hopeful? Mainly because it changes the dynamic of the war, at least on paper. It changes the narrative.

• Adding this note about the Bishop's letter, because it may not be obvious to non-Brits, but this is a biggish deal. Almost all of our national-level stuff is the way it is because it works, not because it's official; for example our national anthem isn't "official", it's just our national anthem because it's what people sing. One of these unwritten rules is that the Church and the monarch don't weigh in on politics. For Senior Bishops to officially, publicly, call on the government to recognise Palestine as a state, it's pretty unprecedented.