Gaza: The Implosion That Led to Explosion

“Gaza: The Implosion that Led to Explosion,” tells the tragic tale of Gaza, a region plagued by a dire humanitarian crisis that, regrettably, has created a space for violent crimes such as those committed by Hamas.

A persistent sense of hopelessness and a lack of opportunity has driven some people to support the idea of Hamas and join its ranks, which has resulted in attacks that have exacerbated the cycle of violence in the area.

Years of economic collapse, widespread unemployment, restricted access to essentials, and, human rights abuses by the state of Israel have left the people of Gaza with a strong sense of anger and pessimism. Because of this, organizations like Hamas have become a source of retaliation.

Undoubtedly the Hamas attack on innocent civilians is atrocious and highly condemnable. It is unacceptable to take a human life, regardless of faith, caste, or creed.

All though this conflict is almost a century old, recent developments occurred after Hamas, a pro-Palestine militant organization, managed to infiltrate into Israel on October 7 and killed 1,300 people, wounded 3,400, and took nearly 200 people hostage.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas and has indicated that the loss of civilian life in the process of doing so is Hamas’ onus. 

Israel continues to bomb Gaza relentlessly after the Hamas’ attack on 7th Oct. As a result, more than 3,500 Palestinians were killed, of whom 1000 were children, and 7,696 were wounded in Israeli.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has captured the emotions of millions of people all around the world for a very long time. Palestinians have faced a complicated web of political, social, and economic difficulties for many years, which has influenced their way of life and goals.

How Israel came into being

The British government announced its support for the creation of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then an Ottoman area with a small minority of Jews, in the Balfour Declaration, which was released in 1917 during the First World War. The declaration was included in a letter from the British to Lord Rothschild, a prominent member of the British Jewish community, to be forwarded to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland.

In 1922, the British had a formal mandate to rule the area. In 1920, 1929, and 1936, non-Jewish Palestinians rose in revolt. Following World War II and the Holocaust, the British government declared in 1947 that it wanted to end the Mandate.

In November of that same year, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 181, which called for the division of Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and a special international status for the city of Jerusalem. The Arab Higher Committee opposed the idea, which was approved by the Jewish leadership, and a civil war broke out as soon as the resolution was put into place. In May 1948, the State of Israel was established.

As the days went by Israel occupied more and more Palestinian lands at gunpoint and drew the indigenous people of Palestine to a narrow strip called Gaza.

The succeeding wars, occupations, and talks have had a significant impact on Palestinians’ livelihoods. Millions of Palestinians still struggle to achieve statehood and self-determination today as they dwell in refugee camps in nearby nations as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is a small area of territory on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Egypt surrounds it to the southwest and Israel to the east and north. Gaza, which has a population of 2.3 million people and covers an area of 360 square kilometers, is the third most densely inhabited region in the world.

Along with the West Bank, it is one of the two Palestinian territories. The Islamist organization Hamas has been in control of the region ever since they were first elected to power in 2007. Human rights organizations refer to Gaza as an “open-air prison” because of the blockade that has been in place since 2007.

The confrontation has centered on Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians, and has frequently been the target of Israeli military operations, which have caused extensive infrastructural damage, fatalities, and a serious humanitarian catastrophe. Limited access to clean water, electrical problems, and high unemployment rates have created a tough environment for its population, especially the youth.

West Bank

Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to military occupation by Israel, whose settlements are constantly encroaching on Palestinian territory. In addition to causing geographical conflicts, the expansion of these settlements has made it more difficult to form a sustainable Palestinian state. Movement limitations frequently affect Palestinians’ access to employment, healthcare, and educational opportunities.

Palestinian refugees are still a major source of contention. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced, which resulted in their exile and the creation of refugee camps in surrounding nations. Due to the strong emotional links to their homeland, the right of return, a profoundly held ambition for many Palestinians, remains a contentious issue in peace talks.

To resolve the conflict, numerous international projects and peace negotiations have been carried out, but Israel has always played a spoiler. Israel’s expansionist policies and its gross violation of human rights have time and again given rise to an uprising in Gaza and the West Bank.

The recent incursion of Israeli settlers and forces, as well as the violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, and the violent attack on worshippers, have led many Palestinians to believe that Israel has reiterated its intention not to allow Palestinians to leave in peace.

The Peace Process

For decades, the international community, particularly the US and its European allies, has either ignored or looked the other way when the Zionist expansionist policies of Israel take a toll on innocent civilians. This diabolical approach from the West has kept the pot boiling. The US’ blatant support in the form of ammunition and financial aid has emboldened the Zionist regime to behave like a spoilt kid.

The world has to wake up which downplays the plight of Palestinians but wakes up only when Hamas or any other militant organization carries out terrorist attacks.

A history of violence, displacement, and resiliency characterizes the condition of the Palestinian people, making it complicated and diverse. It is necessary to take a comprehensive strategy to solve the problems the Palestinians face, one that includes political discussion, humanitarian aid, and adherence to human rights. It is crucial to continue working toward a just and lasting peace so that future generations can live in dignity, security, and prosperity as the world continues to witness the Palestinian people’s ongoing fight.

The Second “Nakba”

Israel has issued a diktat to Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate and leave for southern Gaza, as it has planned to bomb the entire northern Gaza. Israel wants more than a million people to leave their homes and head towards southern Gaza This displacement diktat has brought back bad memories of the 1948 Nakba, where 700,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homeland.

Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic, refers to the forced migration of Palestinians by the occupying Israeli forces. In the months before and during the war, when Jewish forces repelled an attack by multiple Arab governments, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians, the bulk of the pre-war population, were expelled from what is now Israel.

World’s Largest Open-air Prison

The overwhelming majority of Palestinians now living in Palestine were born in an open prison. Throughout their lives, they have seen only prison and prison-like rules. Through Israel’s apartheid wall, Gaza is completely cut off from the outside world and is under a devastating siege, in which its neighbor Egypt not only stands like a mute spectator but also helps Israel guard its border and not let Palestinians access the world through its only border called the Rafah crossing.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli occupation troops control all access and exit points to and from every Palestinian village, town, and city; Palestinians, unlike the Israeli settlers plundering their land, have no freedom of movement.

The open prison also functions like a labor camp. Because the Israeli occupation is choking the Palestinian economy and resulting in a high unemployment rate, Palestinians are obliged to seek jobs from their prison wardens. Of course, the Israeli authorities strictly regulate this procedure, awarding Palestinians “work permits” and frequently canceling them indiscriminately.

The Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank are subjected to surveillance cameras and checkpoints. The occupying forces monitor every move of the Palestinians.

Palestinians, like convicts, are punished for misbehaving. In Gaza, punishment entails indiscriminate bombardment of densely populated areas, which always leads to huge civilian casualties.

Raids on Palestinian houses at night for search and arrest have become routine. Israeli soldiers insult the elderly in front of their children, intimidate children, and occasionally arrest them on charges of stone-pelting.

The Ineffective UN Resolutions on Palestine

Relations with Israel are a critical component of the United States’ overall Middle East foreign policy, and the United States Congress has placed a high value on maintaining a close and supporting relationship. In the UN, the US has always vetoed any proposed resolution that condemns the actions of Israel in the occupied territories.

The United States has been a staunch supporter of Israel since the 1960s. It has played an important role in promoting positive relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors—specifically, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and numerous others in the 2020 Abraham Accords—while also defying animosity from other Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Iran.

The United States’ largest beneficiary of foreign aid is Israel. The US government signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 1999, committing to helping Israel with at least US$2.67 billion in defense assistance annually for the next ten years.

In 2009, the annual amount was increased to US$3 billion, and in 2019, the amount increased again, which currently stands at a minimum of US$3.8 billion that the US is firmly committed to providing Israel each year.

What is intriguing about this is that normally, when a big state supports a small state, the big state has some say in the small state’s foreign policy; however, in the case of Israel and the United States, the recipient controls the big state’s foreign policy in the region.

Conclusion

This conflict seems to be engulfing the world. After the US moves to the Mediterranean, this conflict is no longer confined to regional geopolitics. 

If Israel provokes Hezbollah and if American forces get active, then things will go from bad to worse, and you can’t say where it will end. And Israel cannot handle both Hamas and Hezbollah at the same time. Once Hezbollah gets involved, its ally Iran will also give as much support as possible.

The US and the Arab countries must ensure Israel does not take further offensive actions and up the ante. The world powers have to call for a ceasefire, negotiate the hostage release with Hamas, work on restoring water and electricity, and let the humanitarian aid trucks waiting at the Rafah border move into Gaza.

In order to break this pattern and give the people of Gaza hope for a more secure and peaceful future, it is imperative that the underlying reasons for their precarious status are addressed.

The international community must play an instrumental part in facilitating and advocating for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Two-state policy is the sole alternative with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

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