The war on Gaza is not alarming because it complicates the relations further between Palestinians and Israelis, but mainly because of the unprecedented death toll of Palestinian civilians falling after the Israeli wide range and chaotic bombing. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there has not been such a systematic and aggressive targeting of Palestinian civilians, throughout all the past Arab-Israeli conflicts.
Some American and Israeli voices are blaming Hamas for the outcome of the war, stating that the Israeli reaction to the 7th-October attack is “understood” due to the number of Israeli civilians targeted at that exact day. It is absolutely wrong and unacceptable to analyze events as per this illogical logic. Even if the official declared number of Israeli victims is true, it’s does not match -in no mean- the confirmed number of Palestinian victims fallen since October 2023. This is not to mention the Israeli destruction of no less than 55% of Gaza’s residential and civil areas and also the forced migration of over than one million Palestinians.
In other words, Israel is not “reacting” to the killing of its civilians on 7th-October, but in fact committing a public “Ethnical Cleansing” against Palestinian Arabs, with no reason to justify the killing of 37,000 innocent civilians in less than 8 months, whom half of them are women and children. These are not estimations or figures anymore, these are proven facts known for everyone in the world, especially after the wide spread of thousands of videos and photos of Palestinian kids, daily being dragged from under the mountains of rubbles in Gaza.
What’s even more alarming is the non-compromised Western support to the Israeli war machine, despite all the atrocities being daily aired on TV and Internet and despite the protests in hundreds of universities around the globe – especially in the US and Europe. All we hear from Western governments are condemnations and calls for immediate ceasefire, with no serious action taken to deter Israel or force its army to stop the ongoing “Ethnical Cleansing”. Therefore, it is wise to suppose that Israel would have stopped its war much earlier if the US and its Western allies have been serious enough to warn Israel about its savage atrocities in Gaza.
Wars can be unfair and some civilians might fall victims in battles, while the case in Gaza is totally different, as over than 2 million humans face the risk of death in every new day. In the fight with Hamas’ militants, Israel bombs civilian buildings and neighborhoods without taking any proper measures to protect civilians, this is why the death toll of Palestinians is steadily and dangerously rising day by day.
The more the world stays silent, the uglier behaviors we will witness by the Israeli army. Just recently and for the first time, Israel bombed a refugee camp in Rafah, far away from Hamas’ tunnels or militants, a development that would not be described but careless, inhuman and savage. It is the inability to take serious action against Israel that encouraged its government to continue the war on Gaza, starting with the northern part, to the central part and recently reaching to Rafah (Southern Gaza), where the vast majority of Arab refugees have fled, as it is described to be one of the most populated districts on our planet.
Despite all proven facts about Israeli atrocities, very few countries have taken measures to punish Israel, while the majority of world countries are still standing still, without even taking any diplomatic measures. As an exception, Turkey has been the first regional power to take tough economic measures against Israel since the war began. Turkey has announced it will not resume trade with Israel -worth $7 billion a year – until a permanent cease-fire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. Top Turkish exports to Israel are steel, vehicles, plastics, electrical devices and machinery, while imports are dominated by fuels. The more countries join Turkey, the higher the cost would be for Netanyahu and his government to go on with the very inhuman war.
What’s truly dangerous is not the war itself, but the inability of the world to take any serious measures to deter the death of civilians in waging wars. This inability would definitely encourage other countries around the world to take matters into their hands and wage further wars, not caring much about human lives that would fall along this war. If the world sees that Israel is somehow being punished for its careless actions, then any potential aggressor would think twice before making any offensive move against the “enemy”.
Our world has taken another step towards uncertainty and unpredictability, due to the lack of “International Will” to regulate political behaviors, especially when it comes to war and armed conflicts. If Netanyahu and his government managed to escape the legal and non-legal consequences of their crimes in Gaza war, then we are about to witness more and more armed conflicts, chaos and instability.
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