by Osama al-Sharif
More and more progressive Israelis and Western Jews are becoming increasingly vociferous in condemning Tel Aviv’s brutal response to the ongoing plight of Palestinians.
A deadly 48-hour escalation between Israel and Hamas/Islamic Jihad in Gaza ended at dawn on Monday after an Egyptian-led mediation finally succeeded in restoring calm. This was the most serious flare-up between the two sides since Israel waged a major offensive on the beleaguered Strip back in 2014. It doesn’t really matter how the showdown started. Tension had been rising since the Israeli elections in March amid signs that the government was backtracking on the commitments it made to loosen its decade-old economic blockade.
The sad reality is that both sides were negotiating by other means: By raising the ante and exchanging messages through rockets and airstrikes. As usual, innocent civilians paid the ultimate price. More than 25 Palestinians, including two pregnant women and a baby, were killed, in addition to more than 90 injured. Among the dead Palestinians were a leading Hamas commander and his family. Four Israelis were also killed. Dozens of buildings, including residential towers, were razed to the ground by Israeli air strikes.
As the dust settles, both sides find themselves with their backs to the wall. For years, Israel had no clear policy on Gaza other than keeping 2 million Palestinians suffering in dire humanitarian conditions. It alone controls the fate of the Gaza Strip by allowing the flow of essential aid, only to stop it abruptly and without good reason. One day it would extend the fishing area to 6 miles, only to then attack Gazan fishermen who dared enter that very zone.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, euphoric following his historic victory at the polls, will use the Gaza card to drum up support among the far-right parties and line up supporters behind him. And, once things get out of hand, he will cave in and restore calm; until the next round of violence.
For Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the goal is more defined: They want a long-term calm with their mortal enemy that would lift the economic blockade and relieve growing popular discontent among Gazans. The status quo is not tenable, thus the launching of more than 600 projectiles and missiles, including one that hit Beersheba about 40 kilometers away, was a signal that their deterrence ability is getting stronger.
The flare-up comes at a critical time for Israel, which will be marking its independence day this week and will host the Eurovision Song Contest later this month. The Hamas/Islamic Jihad message to Netanyahu is that they now have the capability to disrupt these festivities.
On the other hand, the Egyptians want more than a long-term period of calm between the two enemies. They hope they can use the truce to kick-start talks over Palestinian reconciliation. That is clearly something Netanyahu does not want. Moreover, the UN and the international community are unable to make headway in reversing the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In reality, the Israeli government, which has turned Gaza into an open-air prison and thrown away the keys, does not care about improving the lives of those who live there. In fact, some of Netanyahu’s partners want him to order a major ground and air offensive that would terminate the growing threat of Hamas and others groups. Making things worse is that, when even UN fact-finding missions accuse Israel of possible war crimes, it changes nothing on the ground.
But the Israeli narrative — that it is acting in self-defense and protecting its citizens — is getting weaker. Thanks to social media outlets, the reality of the horrific price paid by civilians in Gaza is going viral; and credit should go to activists on both side of the divide. The credibility of the Western media, which is largely and traditionally pro-Israel, is being eroded and more people are turning to alternative outlets to understand what is happening on the ground. More and more progressive Israelis and Western Jews are becoming increasingly vociferous in condemning Tel Aviv’s brutal response to the ongoing plight of Palestinians.
That is not to say that Hamas is not to blame for extending the suffering of its people. Its political leadership is weak, as it yields more power to the military wing. Its refusal to honor a series of understandings with Fatah to restore national unity has weakened the Palestinian national movement ahead of the release of a controversial US vision for a final settlement of the conflict.
For now, we do not know what the Egyptian mediation will deliver in terms of a long-term truce and an easing of the economic blockade. But we know that Gazans will continue their weekly protests on Friday and that Israel’s response will determine whether or not the Egyptian mediation has succeeded. Another flare-up will only prolong and deepen the suffering of Gazans. The grim reality is that both sides seem to accept that any agreement, temporary or enduring, must first be baptized by fire.
Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.
