by Dr Fadi Elhusseini, Middle East Monitor,
The world is silently watching the unprecedented, brutal Israeli attacks on Gaza and genocide being broadcast live, the premeditated targeting of civilians and massive indiscriminate destruction of infrastructure in Gaza. Despite the large-scale killings, the international community has shown a lack of action.
The propaganda promoted by Israel, presenting the Israeli forces as an invincible force, reinforced Israel’s relentless oppression and encouraged its barbaric attacks. This resulted in genocide being committed against Palestinian civilians since 7 October.
The overly-confident Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted to restore his personal political interest and public image, so he ordered the murder of Palestinians and the levelling of Gaza.
Netanyahu knows his time in office will end soon and his army leaders will be held accountable, not only for his failure, but also for his war crimes. His Gaza target bank is any location with the biggest crowd, for the biggest effect. Unsurprisingly, the majority of Palestinians injured were women, children and seniors (65 per cent including more than 2,700 children). These people are not numbers, they were humans with a story, memories, feelings and dreams, all of which vanished with every Israeli order to bomb a building or a road.
Netanyahu deliberately intends to do something unprecedented, which no previous Israeli prime minister or official was able to do, in order to maintain a glimmer of hope for his political career. He ordered the destruction of vast areas of the already smothered and caged Gaza, killing as many Palestinians as possible. He also declared the possibility of a land invasion.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman described the idea of a complete land invasion as very risky, but a limited ground invasion could be possible, to create a buffer zone. This is one of Netanyahu’s options to help him stay in office.
Israel is trying to extract from Palestinians statements of responsibility so as to grant a legal apparatus of exoneration for Israeli leaders, acquitting them from crimes that they committed as the world watched.
Palestinian officials have repeatedly warned of the inevitable consequences of Israel’s continued killings, invasions, demolition of homes, uprooting of trees, confiscation of land, settlement construction and expansion, daily humiliation of Palestinians, the continuation of the illegal and unjust siege of the Gaza Strip, and the diminishing of the political horizon for a just solution to the cause of the Palestinian people. It seems, in spite of these warnings, Tel Aviv’s leaders pursue a cost-free occupation.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government enjoys the protection of the US administration and felt the impunity to lead military operations against defenseless Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West bank for decades. Israel was given the green light by the US to prosecute Palestinians with disregard to international law and international legitimacy. Should anyone object, the US was always there to defend Israel.
International laws gave people living under occupation the right to resist and not just defend themselves. Giving the occupier the right to self-defence is a new justification for the ongoing aggression on Palestinians, allowing the Israeli apartheid state to continue with its crimes. Giving the green light to war crimes against the Palestinian people who only seek freedom and dignity.
The main cause for this mayhem is the Israeli occupation, which must end, resolving all final status issues, with reasonable assurances within a well-defined timeframe. This is the only feasible path towards a just and comprehensive peace and freedom for Palestinians in their own independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their eternal capital.
**Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]
