No parent should ever have to see their child’s ashen face in a body bag, or under the rubble of destroyed residential buildings. Neither should any child have to endure the injustice, hunger and misery of being orphaned, witnessing killing after killing and being robbed of a future, as thousands of children have for far too long in Gaza.
But the images and videos of yet another horrific Israeli attack on northern Gaza on Saturday, this time claiming at least 87 Palestinian lives in the residential area of Beit Lahia and wounding dozens more, has again provided a glimpse of the scale of human tragedy still unfolding a year after the heinous Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the subsequent start of the Gaza war. The attack on Beit Lahia, though, appears to have dispelled any notion of the war imminently coming to a halt. After the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this was “the beginning of the end of the war”. For the families in Gaza, however, it might appear that there is no such end in sight.
Israel’s attacks on Saturday and Sunday on southern Beirut, where 36 people have been killed in 48 hours, have defied international calls for a ceasefire. Israeli aggression could even press on further, as it looks to capitalise on the momentum of the high-profile killings of its adversaries to retaliate against Iran’s ballistic missile strikes on its territory this month or the Houthi attacks.
But instead of fanning a multi-front regional war, and following its assassinations of Sinwar and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last month, this should be an “inflection point” for Israel, as the US administration put it. Israel also ought to seriously examine whether its tactic of eliminating the heads of Hezbollah and Hamas can really put an end to these organisations’ ideologies. Even without a new leader as yet, Hamas could deliver respite to the suffering people of Gaza by working towards a resolution to end the war – to start with, by accounting for and returning the hostages to their families. Israel needs to pay serious heed to Washington’s recent admonishments, and its 30-day ultimatum for Israel to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The starvation of Gazans is a development that demands urgent attention. Palestinians cannot afford to wait 30 days, even as Israel persecutes UNRWA, the UN agency that supports relief and human development of Palestinian refugees and ensures food supplies and aid reach Gaza. It is with due consideration of its indispensable work that more than 120 UN member states, including the UAE, on Thursday called for its protection of the agency.
Israel, too, is facing a ticking clock, low as it is on air defences and with its economy having suffered over the past year. Friends and partners have either suspended, or threatened to suspend, arms export licences to it. Its soldiers are fatigued, with many of its reservists having been on duty for more than 200 days. Mr Netanyahu should also factor in the voices of many of his compatriots, who want most of all the return of the Hamas-held hostages.
As much as Hamas must negotiate the safe return of these hostages and bring much-needed respite to exhausted, displaced and bereaved Palestinians, Israel must end its assaults on Gaza and Lebanon. The price of continuing to violate UN resolutions and international law would be too high, and one that will be paid, most unfairly, by grieving civilians on all sides.
