Horror of Israel – Hamas war continues…
The Government of Israel is stated as committed to achieving the goals of the war i.e. releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to the residents of Israel. — Vinod Johri
The horror of 53 days old Israel-Hamas war continues after 7 days fragile truce for release of hostages abducted on 7th October 2023 when Hamas militants broke through Gaza’s militarised border into southern Israel, killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 240, according to an Israeli count. Israel hit back with a relentless military campaign in Gaza that authorities in the Hamas-ruled territory say has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog asked the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to use his political weight to help free all of the Israeli hostages the Palestinian militant group Hamas holds in Gaza and promote and speed up the return home of the hostages. The UAE is a regional power, although fellow Gulf state Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and Hamas for the release of hostages, which has so far led to 99 Israelis’ and foreigners’ being freed. The truce had led to the release of 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Another 25 hostages, mostly Thais, were freed outside the scope of the truce agreement. Another 25 hostages, mostly Thais, were freed outside the scope of the truce agreement.
The office of Israel’s prime minister Friday (1st December 2023) accused Hamas of violating the terms of a cease-fire by firing at Israeli territory and said it was still committed to what it called its goals of the war. It said Hamas “has violated the outline.” The statement alleged that Hamas had not met its obligation to release all of the women hostages today and has launched rockets at Israeli citizens. Israel’s military said Friday (1st Dec. 2023) morning that it has resumed fighting in Gaza after accusing Hamas of violating the terms and firing toward Israeli territory. Three people were killed in a shooting attack at a bus stop in Jerusalem during rush hour Thursday morning (30th Nov. 2023), Israeli authorities said, as fears of spiralling violence beyond the Gaza Strip grew.
The Government of Israel is stated as committed to achieving the goals of the war i.e. releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to the residents of Israel.
An Israeli government spokesperson has said that Hamas “will now take the mother of all thumpings” after a truce in the Gaza Strip expired and hostilities resumed. “Unfortunately, Hamas decided to terminate the pause by failing to release all the kidnapped women,” government spokesperson Eylon Levy told a briefing.
“Having chosen to hold onto our women, Hamas will now take the mother of all thumpings.”
Levy said the week-long agreement could have been extended, with the Israeli government having already approved a list of Palestinian prisoners for release. It would have meant the prisoner and hostage exchanges would have continued for another two days.
Hamas said the blame for failure to agree a truce extension lies with Israel which had “persistently” rejected offers of hostage releases. Levy said Hamas was still holding 137 hostages, 10 of them aged 75 or older. That number included 117 males and 20 females, comprising 126 Israelis and 11 foreign nationals, eight Thais, one Nepalese citizen, one Tanzanian and one French-Mexican. The Israel Prison Service said early on Friday (1st Dec. 2023) it had released 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails as part of the latest exchange for hostages under the truce deal with Hamas. The prison service said the Palestinians were released from prisons in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem under the seventh swap, Reuters reported.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Thursday (30th Nov. 2023): “Clearly, we want to see this process continue to move forward.” Blinken also stepped up calls for Israel to comply with international law and spare civilians in the war against Hamas in Gaza. Blinken also said Israel “must put in place humanitarian civilian protection plans that minimise further casualties of innocent Palestinians, including by clearly and precisely designating areas and places in southern and central Gaza, where they can be safe and out of the line of fire”. International pressure has risen for a lasting halt to the war. The White House said it was “working on it literally by the hour” to try to extend the temporary ceasefire.
On the sidelines of UN’s COP 28, France regretted the end of a truce between Israel and Hamas, and called for its restoration because it brings no solution and complicates the resolution of all questions that arise stated by the French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna.
Germany’s foreign ministry says the diplomatic efforts must be redoubled to try to restore the truce in Gaza.
Background of Israel – Hamas hostility (Contd…from previous issue)
In the summer of 2014,/ clashes/in the Palestinian territories precipitated a/military confrontation/between the Israeli military and Hamas in which Hamas fired nearly three thousand rockets at Israel, and Israel retaliated with a major offensive in Gaza. The skirmish ended in late August 2014 with a/cease-fire/ deal brokered by Egypt, but only after 73/ Israelis and 2,251/Palestinians were/ killed. After a wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in 2015, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah/announced/that Palestinians would no longer be bound by the territorial divisions created by the/Oslo Accords. In March and May of 2018, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip conducted weekly demonstrations/at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The final protest coincided with the seventieth anniversary of the/Nakba, the Palestinian exodus that accompanied Israeli independence. While most of the protesters were peaceful, some stormed the perimeter fence and threw rocks and other objects. According to the United Nations, 183 demonstrators were killed and more than 6,000 were wounded by live ammunition. The tense political atmosphere resulted in a return to disunity between Fatah and Hamas, with Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party controlling the Palestinian Authority from the West Bank and Hamas de facto ruling the Gaza Strip. This remained largely true throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, despite Abbas’ efforts to bring the Palestinian people together under the Palestinian Authority.
In May of 2018, fighting once again broke out between Hamas and the IDF in what became the worst period of violence since 2014. Before reaching a/cease-fire, militants in Gaza fired over one hundred rockets into Israel; Israel/responded/with strikes on more than fifty targets in Gaza during the twenty-four-hour/ flare-up.
The Donald J. Trump administration set/ achieving an Israeli-Palestinian deal as a foreign policy priority. In 2018, the Trump administration/cancelled/ funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides aid to Palestinian refugees, and/relocated/ the U.S. embassy/ from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a reversal of a longstanding U.S. policy. The decision to move the U.S. embassy was met with applause from the Israeli leadership but was/condemned/by Palestinian leaders and others in the Middle East and Europe. Israel considers the “complete and united Jerusalem” its capital, while Palestinians/ claim/ East Jerusalem/ as the capital of a future Palestinian state. In January 2020, the Trump administration released its long-awaited “Peace to Prosperity” plan, which was/rejected by Palestinians due to its support for future Israeli/annexation/of settlements in the West Bank and control over an “undivided” Jerusalem.
In August and September 2020, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and then Bahrain/ agreed/ to normalize relations with Israel, making them only the third and fourth countries in the region—following Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994—to do so. The agreements, named the/Abraham Accords, came more than eighteen months after the United States/ hosted/Israel and several Arab states for/ministerial talks/ in Warsaw, Poland, about the future of peace in the Middle East. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah/rejected/the accords, as did Hamas.
In October 2020, an Israeli court/ ruled/ that several Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah—a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem—were to be evicted by May 2021 with their land/ handed over/ to Jewish families. In February 2021, several Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah filed an appeal to the court ruling,/ prompting/protests/around the appeal hearings, the/ongoing/ legal battle around property ownership, and the forcible displacement of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem.
In late April 2021, Palestinians began demonstrating in the streets of Jerusalem to protest the pending evictions, and residents of Sheikh Jarrah—along with other activists—began to host nightly/ sit-ins. In early May, after a court/ ruled/in favour of the evictions, the protests expanded, with Israeli police/deploying/force against demonstrators. On May 7, following weeks of daily demonstrations and rising tensions between protesters, Israeli settlers, and police during the month of Ramadan, violence broke out at the al-Aqsa Mosque/compound/in Jerusalem, with Israeli police/using/ stun grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannons in a clash with protestors that left hundreds of Palestinians/ wounded.
After the clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City, tensions increased throughout East Jerusalem, compounded by the celebration of/ Jerusalem Day. On May 10, after several consecutive days of violence throughout Jerusalem and the use of lethal and nonlethal force by Israeli police, Hamas, the militant group which governs Gaza, and other Palestinian/militant groups/launched/ hundreds of/ rockets/into Israeli territory.
Israel responded with artillery bombardments and airstrikes, several of which killed more than twenty Palestinians, against targets in Gaza. While claiming to target Hamas, other militants (such as those from Palestinian Islamic Jihad), and their/ infrastructure—including tunnels and rocket launchers—Israel/expanded its aerial campaign and struck non-military infrastructure/ including residential buildings,/ media headquarters, and/ refugee/ and/ healthcare facilities.
On May 21, 2021, Israel and Hamas agreed to a/ cease-fire, brokered by Egypt, with both sides claiming victory. More than 250 Palestinians were/ killed/ and nearly 2,000 others wounded, and at least 13 Israelis were killed over the eleven days of fighting. Authorities in Gaza estimate that tens of millions of dollars of/ damage/ was done, and the United Nations estimates that more than 72,000 Palestinians were/ displaced/ by the fighting.
Israel has struggled for its existence for centuries. Jews have faced annihilation. Hamas or Hezbollah or Arab countries will never be able to bring about extinction of jews. The sanctity of international conventions have been eroded severally by the warring Arab countries against Israel in the façade of terrorist organisations. Obviously UNO treaties and agreements, truce and peace initiatives don’t apply to terrorists. Terrorism is the biggest menace to the world peace but terrorist organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Boko Haram, Taliban, Lashkar e Tayyaiba etc. don’t follow anyinternational conventions for inflicting cruel atrocities and death to their haunted prey.
The consequences and scale of losses are already devastating, and the recent attack – and the war that now follows – is likely to shape global politics for years to come.
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