On October 7th, 2023, Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israeli cities around the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli officials, four cities were hit, including Tel-Aviv, one of the country’s densely populated, which houses close to half a million people.
As the government and the governed were reeling from this heinous attack, Hamas militants infiltrated Israel. In a daring move, they stormed an outdoor musical festival attended by young Israelis, opening fire indiscriminately, which resulted in the death of at least 260 revellers.
The militants set fire to vehicles and kidnapped as many Israelis as possible. Then they drove away, leaving traces of their depravity behind.
Across Israeli territory, several attacks of this calibre were carried out by these bloodthirsty Hamas fighters. The images and videos of civilians, including babies murdered, were heart-wrenching. Nobody deserves that, not to mention innocent citizens going about their daily routine. The effects of this were untold. Hundreds lost their lives, and several others sustained injuries.
The fear that gripped the State of Israel needed no hyperbole. A senior official in the Israeli government called it the country’s ‘9/11’, and rightly so. Since its establishment in 1948, the Jewish State had never seen anything like this.
As an avid reader of history, the stories of the holocaust move me to my very core. How fellow humans could wake up one day and start slaughtering a sect of people because of who they boggle my mind. This is why some of us associate deeply with the slogan accompanying the lessons of the holocaust – Never Again.
Indeed, never again should such a crime against humanity happen.
The criticisms that met the Hamas attacks were swift and appropriate. There was no place in the civilised world for such barbarism; statements of support worldwide echoed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response was to be expected. The country would respond militarily through the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). It was going hammer Hamas in its haven, the Gaza Strip.
An incredibly populated territory along the Mediterranean Sea, Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with over 2 million people. According to the statistics, most of its population are women and children.
Although part of the State of Palestine, the area has been ruled by Hamas, a militant and Islamic fundamentalist organisation which prides itself as an agent of development for Gazans. There is some truth to that. Since it took power in 2006, it has built several hospitals, schools and mosques for the deprived populace.
However, the group’s actions over the years have left little doubt about its true intentions in the minds of objective observers. It is a terrorist organisation. The United States and its Western allies regard it as such. The group has usually resorted to firing rockets into civilian territories and abducting Jews. It has stated that one of its core principles is to annihilate Israel from the Middle East.
Indeed, such bigotry has no place in society.
Now, the IDF has been on the attack. And this is where my concerns on the Israeli side hoover.
The much anticipated Israeli counter-offensive has been massive. IDF fighter jets have been striking facilities known as Hamas’ hiding hubs. There’s a problem, though. Civilians in Gaza are being killed in the thousands, and several more have sustained injuries. These airstrikes’ mass destruction of property is as gruesome as you can imagine.
Innocent Gazans are being caught up in this Israeli crusade of searching for hostages and Hamas fighters alike. Except that many of the killed are not killers. Over 700 of them are children, Palestinian health officials say.
If what we’re hearing from top Israeli officials is anything to go by, the airstrikes are just the beginning. Last Friday, the IDF shot flyers into Northern Gaza, ordering all inhabitants to evacuate south amidst a looming ground invasion. They were to move within 24 hours or face the consequences.
As the UN correctly put it, asking 1.1 million people to migrate elsewhere is ‘impossible’. The displacement within an already destabilised area will be catastrophic.
At this point, several red lines have been crossed. Killing the vulnerable in society is never a deterrent to terrorists. At the bare minimum, it is criminal. Until a few days ago, the cheerleaders of Israel remained silent on the atrocities their ally was visiting on the Gazan population. They waved and sang the well-rehearsed chorus, “Israel has the right to defend itself.” Then, as international outcry grew, freedom advocates had to respond.
Standing alongside Mr Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken encouraged the Israelis to abide by what President Biden called ‘the rules of war’. “As the prime minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters. We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for a different standard – even when it’s difficult,” Mr Blinken sought to explain to reporters
The firebrand US Senator of Vermont and two-time presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was not as diplomatic.
“The targeting of civilians is a war crime, no matter who does it. Israel’s blanket denial of food, water and other necessities to Gaza is a serious violation of international law,” Senator Sanders, of Jewish descent, emphasised in a statement.
It was a much-needed observation of what was happening on the grounds in Gaza, and the senator said the right things.
Israel is now on a mission to invade Gaza and, in their words, wipe Hamas ‘off the face of the earth’.
That Hamas is a terrorist organisation which needs to be dealt with, I agree. I’m afraid I have to disagree at the cost of the displacement, destruction and death of millions.
Israel and her powerful allies should be able to take out Hamas directly without the untold collateral damage we have been witnessing. The situation has been made even more delicate by the scores of Israeli hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza.
At this point, diplomacy must be heavily leaned on. The United States is doing the right thing by engaging backers of the Hamas regime, including Qatar, to salvage the situation.
Incessant bombing dubbed Operation Swords of Iron will bring losses to both Israelis and Palestinians, and chances that it helps the hostages are slim.
To address the root causes of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, we must address the problems the extremists won’t have us mention.
First, land. Both sides need to recognise the legitimacy of the other’s narrative to be entitled to a territory within the region. The partition plan drawn by the United Nations in 1947 can be a good starting point. Territorial issues might be addressed only at the table, not the battlefield. This can cater for the unquenchable thirst of nationalism on both sides.
It also needs to be understood that the Palestinians deserve a shot at pursuing their economic aspirations. The supporters of Hamas and the West must discuss and roll out a pragmatic package addressing the core of kitchen table issues many Gazans face. According to the World Bank, donor aid, which serves as a mainstay of the Palestinian economy, is expected to remain well below 2% of GDP for an economic turnaround that needs to be exciting.
Israel’s land, sea and air blockade of Gaza has led Human Rights Watch to describe the area as an ‘Open-Air Prison’. The Israelis defend it, saying that doing so enhances the security of the people of Israel, yet how did that turn out on October 7? Halting that humanitarian suffocation will show commitment to peace on the Israeli side.
The role of key players in the region and the West cannot be overstated. Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and all others who claim to be championing the hopes of Palestinians must understand that their part is a piece of the jigsaw. It will take two to tango. Serious compromises will have to be made. While they are it, they might do well to decapitate Hamas financially.
The United States, Britain, France and the rest of the self-acclaimed ambassadors of freedom and liberty must be even-handed on the Israeli–Palestinian situation. Repeated stances against resolutions at the UN to recognise Palestinians as a country defeat their position as proponents of peace, for if it cannot be merely acknowledged that Palestine is a country, where could the starting point be?
For now both sides must be committed to an urgent ceasefire. Israel’s all-out assault on Northern Gaza will only increase the statistics of casualties. The horrors are enough.
Unlike some ideologues would have us believe, this war is not about the superiority of Islam or Judaism, nor is it about whether it is more suitable to fast during Ramadan or Yom Kippur. It has very little to do with religion.
It has everything to do with the evasiveness on both sides to respect each other’s right to exist.
To give peace a chance, both sides must resume talks. Directly talks.
Written by Mitchell Asare Amoamah
Email @amoamahmitchell@gmail.com
