The Gaza war was created by one of the worst terrorist attacks in history on October 7, 2023. Premeditated attacks on Israeli civilians killed large numbers of innocent people, and many were subjected to multiple atrocities.
The Israeli response was entirely predictable. The people of Gaza have also been paying the price ever since.
That price has been at catastrophic levels ever since. International demands for a ceasefire have achieved nothing. Ironically, the lack of achievement has also redefined Israeli priorities and objectives more clearly. Israel’s stated goal since the start has been the eradication of Hamas.
The history of Hamas is worth noting. Hamas took over Gaza from the Fatah party in 2006. Since then, conflict with Israel has been constant and has achieved nothing but Palestinian deaths and widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip.
Analysts generally saw the October 7 attacks as far beyond the “normal” capacity of Hamas. Hamas is considered to be an Iranian proxy, funded largely by Tehran. This situation makes it a top priority for Israeli security. The sensitivities are therefore both local and international for Israel and relate directly to the decades-long confrontation between Israel and Iran.
The international community has now kindly condescended to demand measures which can have no impact whatsoever on the real situation. Israel denies that aid is being blocked. Aid, meanwhile, seems patchy and probably severely compromised by the usual theft, “selective allocation”, etc.
Reading the Times of Israel, you could reasonably infer that Hamas is effectively under no such pressure whatsoever from the international community. With unobstructed external support, Hamas can continue to operate indefinitely.
Israel continues to state that Hamas is the main obstacle to peace, and that it’s exploiting Western aid, inciting violent incidents, and constantly refusing a ceasefire.
The people of Gaza can’t escape. They have nowhere to go. The refusal by neighboring countries to take Palestinian refugees has trapped them in an even more ridiculously complex situation. The crippling of aid has created an intolerable, almost unbelievable humanitarian crisis. There’s no doubt whatsoever that the population of Gaza is in a near-terminal state of breakdown of basic survival assets.
The Palestinians have absolutely no control at all over Hamas. Massively underpublicized protests against Hamas have gone largely unnoticed. Protestors were reportedly executed by Hamas.
The common enemy of Israel and the Palestinians is Hamas. The international community is offering no help whatsoever in terms of ending the conflict.
Nor is it making the slightest effort to remove non-combatants from Gaza.
Self-righteousness doesn’t help when people are being killed and maimed every second of every day. There are no excuses for exposing children to this insane conflict. Food, medicine, and basic survival assets must be delivered.
Ineffectual bleatings aren’t going to solve Gaza or end this utter madness.
The international community should focus on meaningful achievements, not rhetoric.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
