Barbarism begets barbarism – that’s what it is in Israel’s assault to annihilate Hamas extremists from Gaza. This is not the first time nor would it be the last for such a no-holds-barred Israeli violence on Palestinians.
Palestine has genuine grievances against Israel, but Hamas’ extremism is inexcusable. Israel has a right to survive in the middle of a hostile Arab neighbourhood, but its siege on Gaza, even without allowing for a humanitarian corridor, breaches international laws governing such wars.
The collateral damage is heavier on the civilian population in the Gaza Strip – slightly larger than Philadelphia, a US city – home to about two million Palestinians.
Israeli partygoers held hostage in Gaza are fueling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cry for revenge. Israel didn’t start this conflict, but Bibi Netanyahu promises to finish the war by crushing Hamas's infrastructure.
The belligerent Israeli leader – the latest in a series of many – is determined to be the hero who decimated Palestine to save Israel. Israeli security and the Prime Minister slept during the Hamas ambush 11 days ago, but he is vowing compensation for failed intelligence.
Israel is at once fighting terrorism and also exploiting Hamas's misadventure to exterminate Palestine. The Hamas aggression, at a time of reasonable calm, was uncalled for, but the Israeli reaction is way out of proportion with the provocation. It’s chasing mosquitos with bulldozers.
Israeli trauma is understandable, but its scorched-earth reaction, just like the Hamas extremes, is inexcusable. Wars have rules, but Hamas – Palestinian ‘freedom fighters’ – going after babies, pregnant women, grandmothers and holocaust survivors, is a traumatising first for Israel, after Adolf Hitler’s German Holocaust of the Second World War.
Israel established its current homeland, through the United Nations mediation in 1948, with its headquarters in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv has bombed every nook and cranny in Gaza to smoke out Hamas.
Worse scenarios will unfold when Israeli ground forces join the assault on beleaguered Gaza. About 360,000 Israeli military reservists are assembling for a ground assault on Gaza.
Israeli Citizens Relief Services are fattening their reservists for an apocalyptic war against Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli war cry is chilling, “We must destroy them completely. We don’t fear war, but we want peace.”
By the ninth day of the war, 1,300 Israelis were reported killed in sudden attacks on partygoers, and during raids on civilian homes. About 2,450 Palestinians were down, with Israel promising to kill 100 Palestinians for every Israeli life lost.
The situation makes the Russian-Ukraine war, which has been raging for about two years now, child play. But it could get worse if the latest chapter in the Middle East crisis engulfs much of West Asia.
Iran, Israel’s arch-enemy, is suspected to have endorsed the latest aggression against Israel. Iran has been the major sponsor of Hamas extremists in their perennial clashes with Israel.
Although Iran denies official involvement yet in the war, Teheran’s Supreme leader the Ayatollah, and Hezbollah’s godhead Hashem Safieddine are publicly kissing the hands of Hamas terrorists. Hamas and Hezbollah have waged war against Israel, with Iran’s tacit support.
The terrorists have stolen Gaza’s future. They have rattled Israel. They have touched off an inferno in the Middle East. Although Hamas are outnumbered, and outgunned, their leverage remains Israeli and US hostages in their cages.
Russia promises to support Palestine if the United States joins the war actively to defend Israel. Other Arab countries, especially Iran, Syria and Lebanon, may join the war against Israel.
Saudi Arabia has deferred a possible amity with Israel while the war rages. Egypt is yet to let in Palestinian refugees. They share Arab fear the displaced would not be allowed return passage to Gaza.
The US is warning Lebanese extremists, Hezbollah, against joining Hamas to open other war fronts against the Jewish state in a hostile Muslim neighbourhood. Hezbollah rose in the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
Israel is determined to exterminate the Palestinians, with the tacit approval of western powers, especially the United States. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is sitting on the fence — sympathising with the Palestinian underdogs, while vouching for the Hebrew top dog. Life’s unfair.