Centrality of peace to Israeli-Hamas war

Horrifying as the war between Israel and Palestine portrays since October 7, 2023 when it renewed, what is perhaps more pathetic to peace loving members of the global community is that there is yet no end in sight to the killings, since the world is heavily polarised about how to resolve the fundamental cause of the almost 80-year-old conflict.

It is indeed easy for Israel and her allies to point accusing fingers to the Palestinian Hamas for kick-starting the current renewed fighting, but that would be a denial of the fact that the Palestinians were known to be at home when Israelis, desperate to have a place of their own, forcibly took over the Palestinian land and entrenched themselves in it.

Since then, it has been a tug of war between the two peoples, as Israel forced the Palestinians to become a second-class citizen right on their soil. Sadly, no one knows a solution that will be mutually acceptable to the warring parties, even as the world awaits the next attack and human and structural destruction in the war-prone zone.

The world woke up to the horrors of war in the Middle East following Hamas’ attack on Israeli settlement in which an estimated 1000 Israeli citizens were killed while others were held hostage. On that fateful Saturday, the Hamas launched a surprise air, land, and sea attack on Israel. In response, the Israeli ramped up the mobilisation of its military for retaliatory assault on Hamas. It declared a state war and simultaneously began air strikes on Palestinians in Gaza with an estimated 1,100 Palestinians killed while more than 5,340 were injured inside the Strip.

However, the war between the two peoples is not new; it has seen the world divided along partisan lines about the crisis. The United States and its allies condemned the action of Hamas and described it as a terror tactic while others such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, and Iraq, put the blame squarely on Israel for its repressive policies towards the Palestinian people. Yet several countries were diplomatic in their reactions and called for an immediate de-escalation of violence.

The United States, through President Joe Biden, said among other things that he “spoke with Prime Minister

(Binyamin) Netanyahu about the horrific and ongoing attacks in Israel. The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel. Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation. My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”

Algeria, on an equally partisan note, said inter-alia, it was: “following with great concern the development of the brutal Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of dozens of innocent sons and daughters of the Palestinian people who fell as martyrs in light of the Zionist occupation’s persistence in the policy of oppression and persecution that it imposes on the brave Palestinian people. Algeria strongly condemns these policies and practices that violate the most basic humanitarian rules and references to international legitimacy. In this context, Algeria renews its demand for the immediate intervention of the international community through the relevant international bodies to protect the Palestinian people from the arrogance and crime that the Zionist occupation has made a feature of its occupation of the Palestinian territories.”

The continuing hostility between Israel and the Palestinians has been enduring since the Balfour Declaration of 1948 that created the state of Israel in Palestine. The consequence has been a series of wars between Israel and the Arab States, leading to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Indeed, the Palestinians are confined to a narrow strip of land in Gaza and the West Bank blockaded in what has become acknowledged as an apartheid policy against the Palestinians.

As things stand, the crisis will continue because the fundamental issues have not been resolved. The United Nations Resolution on the right of Palestinians to self-determination has been largely ignored by Israel. For example, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236, adopted by the 29th Session of the General Assembly on November 22, 1974, recognizes the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, made official the United Nations contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and added the “Question of Palestine” to the U.N. More fundamentally is the ‘two-state solution’, a product of the Oslo Accord that proposed a framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by establishing two states for two peoples: Israel for the Jewish people and Palestine for the Palestinian people. These have been neglected and less encouraged by the Israeli Western backers.

Nevertheless, the crisis has had a great effect on the global economy, especially the energy sector over which the Middle East is central. Back home, Nigeria, as an ironic importer of fuel products, is severely impacted by the war’s domino effect on the products and the larger economy. Israel and Palestine should agree on a two-state solution. The former must return to the 1967 boundaries that recognised demarcation between the two peoples.

It needs to be said that the animalisation of human beings is an ill-wind that blows no good. The wanton destruction of lives as though they are animals must stop, and peace must be allowed to reign. The ongoing bloodletting in clear violation of all international laws does not portray both sides as respecters of human rights. Their actions reduce human worth and diminish the world.

The UN created the state of Israel with its November 29, 1947, vote to partition British Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, and was rejected by the Arab states leading to war. Mired in the geopolitics of the superpowers, the UN has refused to act thereby allowing the crisis to fester.

By this very inertia, the world risks a global conflagration that will do no one any good. This is worsened by the partisan support to both sides by interested parties. The kind of thinking and altruism that went into the Camp David and Olso Accords is required for enduring solutions in the Middle East. War is not a solution. Peace is central to human progress.