The war between Hamas and Israel drags on in the Gaza Strip, and inevitably, thousands more have died since my last entry on this blog. The death toll inside Gaza now stands somewhere close to 17,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry. There is no other source of data about the casualty figures in Gaza, and even Hamas say their numbers are probably off. Not because they’re inflating them for their own purposes, but because the health system in Gaza has effectively collapsed, meaning that the bodies can no longer be counted accurately.
Israel’s ground invasion began in earnest on at the end of October and has swept into northern Gaza, cutting off Gaza City from the rest of the territory to the south, where most of the population now cower. 80% of Gaza’s population, 1.8 million people, are now internally displaced. Refugees stuck in their own territory, in an open air prison gradually being reduced, in its entirety, to rubble. IDF airstrikes have not relented since the ground invasion began, with residential areas in the south being targeted, as well as continuing bombardment in the north. There are reports of IDF personnel firing unprovoked upon unarmed civilians, including children. If the numbers from Gaza’s health ministry are to be believed, more than 6,000 children are among the Palestinian dead. That number alone now dwarfs the number killed during Hamas’s attack on October 7th.
During a 7-day ceasefire lasting between 24 November until 1 December, Hamas released around 110 of the approximately 240 hostages taken, after increasing pressure from the international community for humanitarian pauses and meaningful progress towards a permanent ceasefire. Most of the hostages released by Hamas were women and children, along with some foreign nationals. Israel in turn has also released around 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, many of them children under 18 years old.
The ceasefire has also allowed for greater amounts of vital aid to be delivered into Gaza, including food, medicine, and fuel. This deal between Israel and Hamas was primarily brokered by Egypt and Qatar, the latter’s foreign minister described as the chief negotiator in the talks leading to this deal. The minister has stated that his intention is to broker a permanent ceasefire, and this agreement has planted the seed to this end.
However, as of the morning of 1 December, fighting has resumed, and Israeli forces are now fighting in the southern areas of Gaza, including the city of Khan Younis. The IDF have advised Gazans to evacuate into southern Gaza, but there are reports now that IDF bombs have been dropped onto the very areas Gazans have been told to flee to. Within hours of hostilities resuming, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a large building in Khan Younis, killing 180, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
IDF spokespeople have said that they will not engage in further hostage negotiations until Israel withdraws from Gaza and releases all Palestinian prisoners it holds. An entirely unrealistic proposition. International pressure on Israel is continuing to grow in the face of mounting civilian casualties, and Israel has not changed its tactics after its evacuation warnings to Gazan civilians appear to be ineffective. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has warned Israel to do more to protect innocent Gazan lives, lest it replace “a tactical victory with a strategic defeat”.
The 7-day ceasefire was what we were all pushing for. When Israel announced that the ceasefire would be extended for a day for every 10 hostages released, and the original duration extended from 4 days to 5, then 6, then 7, you could almost heard the world holding its breath. But it was not to be. The IDF ground invasion now penetrates all parts of the Gaza strip. No where in the territory is safe any more.
Crimes of the most horrendous type have been committed upon civilian populations in this war, of course by Hamas on October 7 on the civilian populace of southern Israel, including as has been brought to light recently, mass rape and sexual violence against women and girls of unspeakable brutality. It is clear from the unrestrained ferocity of Hamas’s depraved terrorism upon the innocent people of Israel that the attack was deliberate and pre-meditated, including the use of rape as a tool of this terrorism. Such evil can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven, and Israel, as I have said before, is within its rights to seek justice, and such justice necessitates the destruction of Hamas as a political and military entity.
But, it does not and cannot excuse what the IDF has done and is doing in Gaza. Their actions have passed the boundaries of international law, and are beyond what should be accepted by the international community. It is clear that the IDF is committing war crimes in Gaza, but western governments are not calling it out. Why?
The international tolerance, in the west at least, of the unrestrained killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and previous human rights abuses committed by Israel against Palestinians under the guise of counter-terrorism, comes from a collective feeling of guilt we have in the west towards Israel for obvious reasons.
Before I go any further, it’s important to note for any who may doubt, that I completely and fully support the right of the State of Israel to exist and thrive, and the international and cultural importance and preciousness of a Jewish state and a homeland for the Jewish people in the Middle East, their ancestral homeland. Not just in and of itself, but as a strong diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military ally of my own nation as well as the west and democratic world more generally. Israel is ahead of its neighbours as far as democracy and progressive values are concerned, and is a beacon of liberal western values in a region that struggles in this area, and has potential as an example for its neighbours in this regard. My support for Israel and for Israelis cannot be understated. The opinions expressed here do not reflect any feeling of mine that contradicts that. I am a strong supporter of a 2 state solution, including a free and sovereign Palestine, and a strong, secure, and safe Israel.
That being said, the historic human rights abuses committed by nations, particularly western and European nations, against Jews, going back hundreds, even thousands of years before the Holocaust, have fomented a feeling of collective guilt in the west. It is through this guilt that the squeamishness of the west to call out Israel’s own human rights abuses stems from. Also, Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th was committed against Jews because they are Jews, and to annihilate the State of Israel; for entirely hateful and prejudiced reasons. The IDF are killing Palestinians not because they are Palestinians or Muslims, but because they are, ostensibly, in the way of their fury aimed at Hamas. It is partly for this reason, I believe, that we in the west seem to tolerate the slaughter of innocents in Gaza. For now, at least.
It is so important, especially now, that rightful criticism of Israel cannot be confused for antisemitism, but that is something we in the west struggle with. Not least because the most pro-Israel commentators have an unhelpful and childish tendency to unilaterally accuse critics of Israel of anti-Jewish sentiment. Such accusations muddy the water of this argument of era-defining significance, and aim to give Israel free rein to do as it wishes in pursuit of its goals, which under the current ultra-Zionist thuggishness of the current far-right coalition, appears to be the annexation of the existing Palestinian territories into Israel proper, the expulsion of the native Palestinians, and the annihilation of Gaza in every sense of the word.
Not only are the IDF’s actions in Gaza deplorable, they are unnecessary. As has been stated in the media by experts and scholars in this region, this conflict cannot ends by military means. Only by diplomatic and political means can the killing stop. That was demonstrated through the brokering of the 7-day ceasefire.
It’s still a long way off, and I’m under no illusions that many more people will die before it happens. But they do not need to. That is where the frustration comes from; the conflict could end in a week if all parties get around the table and make real meaningful effort towards a lasting ceasefire. More people do not need to die.
It’s been stated by IDF spokespeople that if Hamas cooperates and releases all of its hostages, then the conflict will end. The problem with this line of thought is that Hamas does not hold all the hostages; it was not just Hamas that stormed across the fences and carved a bloody swathe into Israel, it was Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, other Palestinian militant groups, as well as groups of Gazan citizens participating in the attack. These other groups also took hostages, over which Hamas has no control. It is therefore not feasible to demand Hamas release all the hostages because whist it holds a majority, it does not hold all of them.
It’s also obvious that if the IDF stop dropping bombs and withdraw, the senseless loss of life will stop. Their tactics cannot be successful, not least because Hamas’s top-flight leadership is not in Gaza. But, this also has its caveats, as if Hamas and other militants are allowed to remain in Gaza, as they have stated, they will continue to try to destroy Israel in attacks similar attacks to October 7th at the earliest possible opportunity.
The ball is not just in Hamas’s court, it’s also in Israel’s. Both sides have the power to end this war, but neither will. Whilst both sides preach about wanting peace, I suspect both know that their terms for peace would be unacceptable to the other side, therefore neither of them actually want or expect the killing to stop any time soon.
There’s no easy way to end this war. It would require negotiations in good faith involving both sides, no shortage of good will gestures by both sides, swift changes in political and military leadership on both sides, or at least profound changes of heart, which is incredibly unlikely, to put it as mildly as I can.
It’s a crying shame. The peace process has been put back years, probably decades by this war. I remember studying the Israel-Palestine conflict in University, where I was able to begin to form my opinions, in 2016-19. Back then, I remember thinking it was a fucking mess, and would require superhuman mutual understanding and effort to solve. Now, I honestly don’t know if I’ll see this conflict end in my lifetime.
As I’ve said before, both sides are blind to the suffering of the other, and ignorant, wilfully or otherwise, of the history and perspective of the other side. I’ve seen Israelis and Jews deny Palestinians have a right to their land, deny even the existence of the Palestinian people, and commit to a second Nakba. I’ve seen Palestinians and Arabs spout the most hateful antisemitic bile with no basis in fact as gospel truth, and commit their lives to the eradication of the Jewish people from Israel based on these lies.
I myself am no expert on this subject by any means (which I suppose begs the question why I think I’m qualified to write this much about it), but it’s important that diverse viewpoints are heard and a range of opinions are expressed. Only then can those who need to adapt their views do so by learning and understanding, and I count myself among that number. I know I don’t have the full picture, and I need to learn more about it to form a truly objective viewpoint. I just wish others felt the same.
stay safe
/e