By Abdulqadir M. Habeeb
Deep Concerns
Following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023, President Joe Biden made a strong statement of support for Israel. On the same day that Israel declared war against the terrorist group, the United States announced that it would send renewed shipments of arms and move its Mediterranean Sea warships closer to Israel. While the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the renewed violence, the members failed to come to a consensus statement. Given the history of brutality when Israel and Palestinian extremist groups have fought in the past, international groups quickly expressed concern for the safety of civilians in Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as those being held hostage by militants in Gaza. In the first two days of fighting, approximately 800 Israelis and 500 Palestinians were killed. Increasing loss of life is of primary concern in the conflict.
While the United States did not immediately confirm reports that Iranian intelligence and security forces directly helped Hamas plan its October 7 attack, Iran has a well-established patronage relationship with Hamas and other extremist groups across the Middle East. In addition to worries that the attacks were a signal from Iran that it is prepared to escalate its malign influence in various Middle Eastern conflicts, experts have expressed concern that another extremist group with Iranian backing, Hezbollah, will be drawn into the war, thereby expanding the conflict beyond Israeli and Palestinian borders. On October 9, reports surfaced that the IDF was firing at targets within Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based. An Israeli statement on the matter did not clarify the purpose of the cross-boundary operation.
A 2023 effort by the United States to help broker a normalization accord between Israel and Saudi Arabia was thrown into chaos by the October conflict. Saudi Arabia has long advocated for the rights and safety of Palestinian Arab populations in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Especially in Gaza, those populations are now in the path of IDF operations, jeopardizing the progress the Israelis and Saudis made toward a common understanding.
Recent Developments
“The most far-right and religious government in Israel’s history was inaugurated in late December 2022. The coalition government is led by Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu and his Likud party and comprises two ultra-Orthodox parties and three far-right parties, including the Religious Zionism party, an ultranationalist faction affiliated with the West Bank settler movement. To reach a governing majority, Netanyahu made a variety of concessions to his far-right partners. Opponents have criticized the government’s stated prioritization of the expansion and development of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The governing coalition has also endorsed discrimination against LGBTQ+ people on religious grounds, and it voted to limit judicial oversight of the government in May 2023 after a delay due to nationwide protests in March.
The October 2023 conflict between Israel and Hamas marks the most significant escalation of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict in several decades. The US, the European Union, and other Western countries have all condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel.
The US, Israel’s closest ally, has over the years given the Jewish state more than $260bn in military and economic aid and is promising additional equipment and ammunition. It also said it was sending an aircraft carrier, other ships, and jets to the eastern Mediterranean.
Russia and China have both refused to condemn Hamas and say they are maintaining contact with both sides in the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed US policy for the absence of peace in the Middle East.
Regional power Iran, meanwhile, is a key supporter of Hamas, as well as that of another regional enemy of Israel, the Lebanese Hezbollah movement. Questions have been asked about its role in the recent attacks after reports that it gave the go-ahead for them days before. Tehran has, however, denied any involvement”.
Women, and children as Cannon fodder and the gruesome reality
It is scary that from emerging reports, Israel’s current strategy seems to be aimed at the total annihilation of Hamas and in essence, the Gaza area. Children and women are not spared in the renewed strategic assault and leveling of the residential areas in Gaza. Not quite satisfied, per reports, there’s presently a blockade of trucks coming in with food and other essential supplies. Electricity, gas, and water have already been cut off. An already devastated concentration camp is being made into a graveyard where every living soul is doomed for annihilation either by rocket strikes, bullets, lack of healthcare, hunger, or thirst, effectively making it an open-air, deadly prison in stark darkness and at the mercy of the divine and intervention of the humane world. I find it baffling and disheartening how the majority of the world powers and peasants alike, especially the West who are supposedly the champions that espouse the principles of upholding fairness and human rights are comfortably able to support Israel at this juncture. There has to come a time when the rest of humanity reaches a consensus on the scope at which human life is viewed and decides whether there’s any justifiable leeway for genocidal tendencies by any nation above others. A uniform standard should be valid for the whole of the human race.
According to Anadolu, a Middle East-based online medium, “The Palestinian death toll rose to 1,417 from a massive Israeli air campaign against the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said Thursday. It said fatalities include 447 children and 248 women. At least 6,268 people were injured in the bombardment since Saturday, including 1,531 children and 932 women, according to a statement”.
Israel’s death toll is reported to be around 1200 people. Every human life cut short diminishes us all as members of a broad single-family and should make us desperate for a solution to any lingering feuds.
The crux of the matter
While we continue to call for well-meaning world leaders to advocate for a ceasefire, we also encourage them to expedite actions, and negotiations to midwife a peace accord that is seen and considered to be fair toward finding an equitable, lasting solution acceptable to both nations. We continue to stand against the occupation, subjugation, and disproportionate force being meted out to the people of Palestine (Gaza and West Bank). We stand with them and every oppressed minority with our miniature voices and in heartfelt prayers; We pray for the repose of the souls of the departed ones and wish comfort and quick recovery for the injured and the sick. We pray for fortitude and enduring strength for the survivors. We pray that this pain they’ve endured across generations reaches an amicable, equitable, and enduring solution that’ll enable them to finally thrive and achieve a free and fulfilled life.
In your darkest hours, Dear brethren, rest assured that we are interceding on your behalf using our little voices, joining them with yours and also our inks from all obscure corners across the world. We stand with you in our prayers and thoughts, For in my firm belief, soon your dawn shall break forth like the bright morning.
‘Posterity Shall Vindicate the Just’
Mr. Habeeb, a Tech, Strategy, and Innovations consultant. He keeps a periodic Column here and can be reached via habeebajebor@gmail.com.