Operation Protective Edge: Myths and realities
THE ongoing violence on civilians in Gaza under “Operation Protective Edge” is raising several questions among the people around the world. The traumatised Palestinian children, their dead bodies, as well as the destruction, shown in the media sadden us immensely.
War is nothing new for Palestinians. Children who are six years old in Gaza are facing war for the third time. This time, Operation Protective Edge is killing more civilians than ever. In much of the North American and western European media reporting on the current Israeli attack, a common issue is that Hamas has also shot some rockets towards Israel. But none of these rockets hit any targets, and how come no Israeli has lost his/her life because of them?
According to the UN Security Council, some 400 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, including women and children, have been killed and more than 1,600 injured since July 8 as a result of some 1,900 Israeli strikes on Gaza from land, air and sea. Additionally, more than 1,800 Palestinian homes have been destroyed or damaged.
Against this backdrop, it is easily understood that it is a myth that Palestinian fighters alone are to blame for the ongoing military offensive in Gaza. It is also a myth that the war between Hamas and Israel was triggered by the murder of several children, Israeli and Palestinian, in recent weeks.
It should also be noted that Israel's offensive against Gaza is taking place at a time when international diplomacy is distracted by the escalation of conflicts in other regions (e.g. Ukraine and Iraq). Besides, since the last war in 2012 when Cairo had a government sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, a great deal has changed. Hamas has since lost that support like the Muslim Brotherhood. Thus, Israel knew it was high time to strike.
The death toll in the current round of hostilities can be regarded as a reflection of the asymmetry of power between the fourth strongest army in the world and a virtually defenseless civilian population. In the name of destroying Hamas, Israel actually wants to justify its atrocities on Palestinian civilians.
The poster “Where do Gaza Terrorists Hide Their Weapons?” is a paradigmatic example in this regard, where houses, mosques, schools, and hospitals are legitimate targets because they are presumed to be weapon depositories. During every attack on Palestine, Israel tried to legitimatise it by blaming Hamas and justifying its attack against terrorists.
If we look into the past, we can see that the operations aimed at the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas caused huge loss of lives and property of Palestinian civilians. Take the example of “Operation Cast Lead” in 2008. During this operation, 300 civilians including men, women and children died. In addition, hospitals, schools and even mosques were destroyed.
Amnesty International termed Israel's atrocity as war crime. The goal of this all-out aggression was to take revenge on Hamas which, according to Israel, was able to shoot rockets into the Jewish state. In this scenario, it should be noted that the rocket named “Qasas,” which is alleged to be used against Israel, is nothing in front of Israeli rockets. In this way, Israel always seeks to take extreme kind of revenge against Palestine.
The unresolved Middle East problem shows that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition have never believed in -- or sought to establish -- a viable two-state solution. Their sole interest continues to be consolidation of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem while maintaining the siege on Gaza. For Netanyahu, it is far easier to attack Gaza -- in the name of fighting Hamas -- than it is to sign a peace agreement with moderates such as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
It is pertinent to say that the aforementioned issues along with support of the US for Israel in all its atrocities indicate the mismatch between the declaratory posture of Israel in bombarding Gaza and the reality. It is also ironic that the United Nations has failed to stop the atrocities. The Security Council, once again, failed to uphold its Charter duties and implement its resolutions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Council's failure to adopt a resolution condemning Israeli military aggression in Gaza and the protection of the Palestinian people is clear.
It is very unfortunate that the civilised nations of the world are reluctant to take a firm stance against the brutality committed by Israel. There are many ways to face Hamas. But the way Israel has adopted clearly shows that destroying Hamas is not its only intention. Israel's action is definitely a violation of human rights and a war crime. Thus, it is the duty of the international community, which always raises its voice against human rights violations around the world, to stop the world's worst crimes.
The writer is MSS student at the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka.
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