World frontrunners are doubtful about acting on a ceasefire. As the Israel-Hamas war remains, it is setting the path for reshaping the political landscape of the Middle East.
Similar to any war, humanity has been the first prey in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The war is taking its toll on human lives. The Israel-Hamas war showed a mighty disobedience and an indifference to international laws, including humanitarian laws, laws of armed conflict, and so forth.
The attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which left 500 people dead, including patients on sick beds, is proof of disrespect for humanity and international law. Straightaway after the attack, Hananya Naftali, a digital aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X, formerly Twitter, which read, ‘Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza.’
After that, he made an apology for sharing ‘a Reuters report’ that ‘falsely stated Israel struck the hospital.’ Israel stated that Hamas’ rocket hit the hospital. How many rockets are needed to bring down a hospital of this size to ground zero? Before the hospital bombing, Israel attacked 20 healthcare facilities in Gaza, alleging that these facilities hid Hamas’s weapons.
After the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital, Israel ordered the evacuation of Al Quds Hospital. A humanitarian misfortune is escalating in ruthlessness and density with the devastation of hospitals and other civic facilities. After the attack, Israel cut Gazans off all supplies, including water and medicine, not covered by any law of armed conflict.
The misfortune feared is a humanitarian tragedy that could be bigger than the Naqba, where the world saw more than 700,000 Palestinians wiped out of their farmhouses by the Israeli army in 1948 and were never allowed to return home.
Gaza, which Israel has transformed into an ‘open-air prison’ much to the unconcern and consent of the flag bearers of human rights, is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.
The Biden administration, with the presidential election knocking on the door, has no option but to show indisputable loyalty to Israel, perform as a wartime leader, and keep the American Jewish lobby in confidence.
The Biden administration’s deployment of a massive two-carrier task force in the Mediterranean and the quick dispatch of military aid, followed by the presidential visit, are evidence of undeniable support for Israeli movements.
Such huge gunboat diplomacy was to embolden Israel to take a free ride with military actions and, at the same time, stop any Arab country from eventual adventurism and getting involved in the conflict, directly or indirectly.
On top of the boiling Israeli battering that Palestinian people withstand daily, a little over two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly. He spoke endlessly and self-righteously about peace in the region while waving a map entitled ‘The New Middle East’, in which Palestine was wiped out and Gaza and the West Bank were merged into Israel.
Commons sense instructs that all pressure should be brought to bear on the Israeli government to stop the attack on Gaza, and an instant ceasefire agreed upon. Chances are neither will happen, certainly not instantly, because hatred and hostile retaliation are driving Israeli actions, not common sense, and definitely not empathy.
If there is to be peace in the Middle East, counting Palestine/Israel, social justice must be fashioned, sharing and fellow feeling cultivated, acceptance and understanding of others nurtured, none of which exists for Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank, letting compassion naturally come about.
Such permanent principles of goodness, held as ideals for generations, need to animate the socio-political systems, including education and significantly the economic edifices. Certainly, they should form the very foundation of such systems.