Israel’s Game Of Strip Poker

The photographs and amateur videos clips appeared straight out of a Star Wars movie—rockets fired by Hamas militants rising into the night skies in streaks of light, and missiles from Israel’s Iron Dome defence system tracing zig-zag paths to intercept the intruders. But this was no movie. As Israel’s right-wing government launched one of the most intensive bombings against what it called “terrorist targets”, the humanitarian crisis it sparked in Palestinian settlements—killing hundreds, including women and children—left the world numbed by the sheer scale of the military action. Though both sides have reached a ceasefire agreement—fragile at best—the military action in the Gaza Strip is a grim reminder that the Israel-Palestine conflict cannot forever be pushed under the carpet. It is time the international community step up efforts  to ensure  justice for Palestinians.

Over the years the world’s collective guilt at allowing the extermination of six million Jews by Hitler has led to an und­erstanding of Israel’s need for security to ensure its citizens are protected. But in the face of  an insatiable demand for more and more Palestinian territory by right-wing Israeli groups, Palestinian rights have been more or less abandoned. And the current ceasefire will be just another stop-gap arrangement ­unless a permanent political solution is thrashed out to end the longest-running conflict in the world. But who will bell the cat? Since the Oslo Accord of 1993 broke down, no serious or sustained ­efforts  at getting Israel to live up to its commitment of  giving the Palestinians a fair deal was attempted. The Fatah-Hamas divide has further weakened the Palestinian position, with Hamas in complete control of the Gaza Strip after throwing out the Fatah in 2007.  

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing a major political crisis—a court case on corruption as well as another inconclusive election—the Gaza action was just what the doctor ordered. The air strikes on Gaza helped to remind citizens of the need for a strong and decisive government.  Netanyahu’s position was strengthened by the 11-day military ­action. Yet, the conservative right-wing policies have, for the first time since the formation of Israel, led to clashes bet­ween Jews and Palestinians living in the Jewish state. These Palestinians, called Israeli-Arabs by the Jews, are up in arms against high-handedness of local authorities. Clashes between Israeli-Arabs and Jews were reported from several mixed settlements across Israel.

“The UN should now step in and work out a permanent solution to the ­conflict,” says Waeil Awwad, Delhi-based bureau chief of the Syrian Arab News Agency and an old West Asia hand. “It has festered far too long and caused ­tremendous suffering to Palestinians who have been thrown out of their homes by Israeli settlers. The main issue is ending occupation and treating Palestinians on an equal footing. The 1948 Palestinians who opted for Israeli identity are considered second- and third-class citizens. The residents of Sheikh al Jarrah enclave in East Jerusalem are under siege by the Israeli army and armed Jewish settlers. The earlier the solution to the crisis. the ­better for world peace and security.”

The military flare-up suited both Netanyahu and the Hamas, with both sides now claiming victory. Hamas fired roughly 4,000 rockets into Israel, ­killing 12 people, including an Indian nurse, and did little beyond that. The Israel defence shield ensured the ­rockets were diffused before they could reach their targets. But the Israeli ­airstrikes pounded Gaza and targeted residential buildings where Hamas top leaders were suspected to have lived; 258 buildings were destroyed by Israeli bombers. On last count, the strikes  killed 230 Palestinians, including 65 children and 39 women. From healthcare facilities to water sanitation and power plants as well, public buildings were all razed to the ground. Health ­facilities, an urgent requirement during the pandemic, are without any medical supplies and can offer no succour to those injured by falling debris. The 14-year-long blockade of Gaza had ­already resulted in a tottering township, but since the latest air strikes much of the area is in rubbles. At least 20 Hamas fighters were killed. But, despite all the loss to civilian lives and property, Hamas is taking the moral high ground.

The current tension began with Israeli attempts to evict Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah ­neighbourhood of East Jerusalem and hand over the property to Jewish settlers. That naturally led to anger and ­resentment among Palestinians living in the area. This was followed by an Israeli raid against worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque, leading to clashes with Palestinian protesters. The public anger against police high-handedness at the mosque and the continuous land grab by Israeli settlers gave Hamas the ­perfect opportunity to strike back with rockets at Israeli areas. For the ­embattled Netanyahu, this was time to show his tough security credentials.

“Hamas claims that, for the first time, police and Israeli forces will stop incursions into the Al Aqsa mosque,” says Zikrur Rahman, India’s former ambassador to the state of Palestine. “Israel also agreed on an end to forced expulsion of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Also, the power of the mobile phone and ­strong social media networks have brought alive the scenes of death and ­destruction triggered by the Israeli ­airstrikes on Gaza, leading to a ­groundswell of support for the Palestinian cause, which had virtually evaporated in the past few decades.”

Israel’s all-weather ally US, which blocked attempts by the UN to force Tel Aviv to call off the military action, is now trying to play the peace-maker to ensure that the ceasefire holds. At the moment, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a visit to the region—Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Cairo and Jordan—to try his hand at a more durable peace in the region.

Hamas is jubilant because despite the death of so many of its fighters, the group is being feted by angry Palestinians who see them as fighting for their rights. Many have given up on the original freedom fighters and Yasser Arafat’s Al Fatah, now led by the uncharismatic President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas ­believes Palestinians are getting ­restless and that it is time to act. President Abbas is too old now to lead the charge against a much more ­hard-line and powerful Israeli ­leadership. Though most Palestinians do not support the ideology of Hamas, many are switching loyalties simply because they have no one else to turn to. There is ­speculation that Jewish settlers will take over Sheikh Jarrah, from where there is a path to the Al Aqsa mosque, and eventually stop Palestinians access to the mosque. This fear has troubled Palestinians ­living in the West Bank and Gaza.  

Hamas has now claimed that Israel has agreed that there will be no more entry of Israeli forces into the holy Al Aqsa mosque, and eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood will come to an end. No one knows if the Israelis have ­actually agreed to this, but Hamas had claimed victory on these grounds. For the moment Hamas’s flag is flying high.

But the human cost of this “victory” may be too high a price for the Palestinians to pay.