Hamas-Israel conflict and the global conscience

The Hamas attack on October 7 may or may not be in the military literature as a classic example of a successful surprise strike by a much weaker force against an overwhelming superior military power, but it definitely will go down in history for unfurling a chain of events which have only just begun.

The dedication, standard of training, weapons and gadgets of the IDF is one simply unmatched compared to that of a militia like Hamas. This is realized more by Hamas than anyone else. Hence they must have gone into all relevant details and prepared meticulously for their sudden strike.

They deliberately selected the points at which they would breach the Israeli defense line and implemented their strategy with dashing determination. The most important trait was their dedication to the cause, that is to create an impact and destabilize their opponents, albeit temporarily; hit them hard before they could overcome the shock and quickly disengage causing reckonable damage and taking back hostages for future bargain.

Hamas was very much aware of the brutal and pervasive retaliation that would follow. For Hamas fighters risking life and embracing death is a part of their everyday business. They certainly value the achievement of their mission more than individual loss of life. Risky operations like these are only possible by such audacious fighters.

The selection of the date and time was also meticulously planned. The historic significance of October had been intently exploited which had an immense impact on the morale of the fighters.

Well one may hold Hamas responsible for such an ill-conceived attempt of stoning a hornets nest, that was bound to cause huge and endless retaliation, resulting in untold suffering of the inhabitants of Gaza. There was no question that Israel would unleash its brute forces upon the annihilation of innocent Palestinian citizens in response. Some even may come up to say that Hamas does not represent Palestinians. But many would argue that life of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and throughout occupied lands has always been nightmarish.

Israelis live in the luxury of rights and privileges. Coming as settlers from any corner of the world, they have the guarantee of housing, electricity, water, and all other facilities. Their houses are built by bulldozing those of the Palestinians. The Palestinians living in ghettos have to pass through a maze of countless checkpoints. They are at the whims of the Israeli security forces to be handcuffed any time at the simplest of “violations.”

The women and children are brutalized in broad daylight, children are also mercilessly separated and pulled away from parents while the parents are shoved into police vans. More than 70 % of the youth are unemployed. They have no access to safe water, sanitation, or electricity. It's a scenario of total deprivation and subjugation in their own land by an occupation force. Some rightly brand it as apartheid.

The public reaction in the aftermath of the recent Hamas attack and Israeli retaliation is seen in countries far and wide. Even the international community of Jews are out on the streets chanting “not in our name” meaning they abhor the massacre of civilians in Gaza in the name of safety and protection of Jews.   

Many have expressed their concern on the matter of a new wave of antisemitism in Europe as a result of this conflict. In Germany people are advised not to wear symbols such as skull caps in public. In France all Jewish schools and community institutes require police protection. Jews are reported to feel unsafe in Vienna. Critics are concerned to notice the massive rallies in support of Palestinian people and in stopping the fight in Gaza, such as the inspiring one in Washington DC at Capitol Hill.

But to Israel nothing matters. They are going in full swing in their spree of massive destruction through indiscriminate bombing. They don’t have to be selective, whether it’s a school, hospital, a refugee camp, or whatever. The death toll doesn’t matter to the Israeli government because they have total impunity.

The voices in the streets don't matter to the Western policy makers either. They think they are right to stand beside Israel who needs to defend themselves in the form of destruction and atrocity.

The insolence in the tone of Israelis is as evident as ever in spite of thousands being killed and maimed, and the millions displaced. With the destruction of human habitations, they say, “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and it is only a hardship in moving people south of the Gaza strip, but people are getting along”  -- this is a direct quote from an IDF official published in the Times of Israel on Oct 21.

Yet there are brave souls speaking out in favour of humanity. Barack Obama, the former US President, urged the Israelis to put them in the shoes of the Palestinians, although we hadn’t seen him doing anything in favour of them during his presidency.

There is the US Senator who voiced that a portion of the $3.8 billion -- a huge amount of taxpayers' money -- given out to Israel annually, should be given as humanitarian aid to Gaza.

There is the Jewish rabbi who calls for sanity and stopping the massacre in the name of the promised land.

The conflict of Israel and Palestine spans for over a century starting even before the Belfour declaration in 1917, the 1947 UN resolution for partition of Palestine, creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Arab-Israeli wars of 1967, 1973, the Camp David agreement in 1978, Intifada in 1987 and Hamas coming into being, the Israeli attacks in 2008, 2014, and the latest in 2023. The shrinking land size of Palestine through this history, shown vividly in maps, has all happened in front of the eyes of global citizens.

The ever-shrinking Palestinian land and the millions of homeless people seem to be no concern to the global leaders. They seem to have taken a vow to ignore all sufferings of these ill-fated people and only raise their concern over the right of Israel to live in peace and security. As if the massive stockpile of modern killing armaments in the hands of Israel was not enough, instead they reach out personally with aircrafts laden with more armaments to complete the annihilation of Palestinians.

Yet they are unmoved at the unabated, systematic, merciless killing of human beings. They don't even think that they have to stand before their Lord to answer for their involvement in such a planned extermination of a nation.

Writer: Brig Gen Qazi Abidus Samad, ndc, psc (Retd), a freelance contributor.

Source: Dhaka Tribune