Humanitarian and political hypocrisy called Israel-Hamas war

At this point, not too many literate citizens of the world can feign ignorance of what is going on between Israel and Hamas in the densely populated Gaza strip. My concern is not for the ignorant but rather for the enlightened-uninformed among the several commentators around the world. Since the end of the cold war, there have been very few military hostilities across international borders or between nations. On the contrary, military actions have been on ethnic nationalities within nations seeking political identity and a state of their own.

In recent times, the world appears to be finding itself in an apocalyptic situation that existed before the First and Second World Wars. There has been a couple of international military hostility in the world with majority happening in the gulf states and Middle East. Some of the most recent ones include the Russia-Georgia war, Armenia-Azerbaijan hostility, and the unprovoked war on Ukraine by Russia.

Currently, the Israel-Hamas war is on-going side-by-side with Russia’s war on Ukraine. One may argue that the Israel-Hamas war is one that qualifies as a civil-war in the sense that the Palestine State is not in international jurisprudence a state properly so-called which is one of the political hypocrisy I am alluding to. To pretend that there could be a prophetic post rapture-like peace between Israeli and Palestinians under the current Israeli domination and occupation is nothing but a wishful thinking due to the morbid desire of the two for each other’s destruction.

On Saturday 7th October 2023, I sat in front of my computer working on a script on democracy; low and behold, the news broke of the inevitable. The Hamas military wing in Gaza struck right into the heart of Israel in an unprecedented atrocious audacity.The Israeli immediate but dazed reaction to Hamas brutal attack did not conceal the magnitude of Israeli retaliatory intention on Hamas and Gaza. The Israelis quickly bury their dead with the vengeful force of their superior air and missile power which brought hell on Gaza in a matter of days thereby creating a humanitarian crisis considered by many as unprecedented.

The truth is that the Hamas attacked triggered humanitarian catastrophe on both sides. The Israelis were jolted to the reality that complacency on their part could easily make them relived the horror of holocaust again in the hands of their mortal and primal enemy. The mass kidnapping and continuing detention of the remaining Israelis in Gaza is clearly a crime against humanity. The graver humanitarian catastrophe is inside Gaza which is now the most dangerous place to be on the globe. Fighting a war in a closed enclave with one of the warring parties in civilian outfit and imbedded within civilian populace naturally portends catastrophic consequences.

My grouse is on the level of political hypocrisy that the international community including the UN adopts in the resolution of this humanitarian crisis. The US led iron-clad support of the West for Israel over the years is at the core of Israel’s oppressive confinement of the Palestinians.

Gladly some western allies are now beginning to question the morality of their support for Israel in the face of its horrifying response to the barbaric Hamas attack. Unfortunately, some of the major forces on the Global South have very few words of condemnation if any for the atrocities of Hamas that led to the current hostility. Yet, Global South did not mince words on their condemnation of Israel for what it described as collective punishment in Gaza.

The media is not speared of the same bias and hypocrisy as international media appears to have taking sides with either of the two blocs. As a matter of fact, the Israel-Hamas crisis have become a horror reality show on Al Jazeera network that has not concealed its zeal in depicting Palestinian evil encounter in the hands of the Israelis regardless of the intrinsic enmity and fear of both parties for each other.

In the other crisis alluded to above, the UN practically appears to be a toothless bulldog without exception. It fails to forcefully come to the aid of Syrian civilian thereby leading to one of the gravest humanitarian and refugee crisis in the world. Ukrainians now faces the prospect of horrifying winter hostility in the hands of Russia with not much succour coming from the UN.

The fact that the UN Secretary General considered it appropriate to activate a rarely invoked clause on Israel-Hamas crisis conveys his alleged bias against Israel. I can only hope that it will signal a new positive beginning for the UN in global affairs.

The most recent international hypocrisy is centred on the latest resolution by the UNSC wherein the US again exercised its power of veto to shoot down the council’s motion for humanitarian ceasefire of hostility. The US has been consistent in its position that it will not support any form of ceasefire in the conflict but amenable to a humanitarian pauses to allow critical aid to get to those in urgent need of it.

The world witnessed Russia’s appalling support for Syrian President and also vetoing several UNSC resolutions that appear unfavorable to Syrian dictator. Similarly, the UN watched helplessly as Russia invaded Ukraine and annexing territories in a sovereign country with very little admonitory coming from the UN to Russia. It would appear that the UN through its Secretary General has now suddenly found its nerve and balls during this Israel-Hamas impasse. Perhaps it is because of the size of the staff causalities in the ongoing onslaught in Gaza.

The council must pursue objective resolutions as against un-negotiated resolutions. It is important that the world take an objective view on ceasefire especially as it was Hamas that broke a ceasefire that lasted till the 6th of October, 2023 as well as the latest weeklong humanitarian pause that led to negotiated aid and hostage/prisoners exchanged. This is why the US insists that a pause will only prolong the doomsday.

The truth is Hamas cannot be defeated just as the agitations for a Biafra state have not been fully quashed in Nigeria. It is only justice that the Palestinian deserves in the shape of a state that can assuage them. That having been said, it is not clear if that will stop future agitations by Palestinians for the return of what they consider to be their ancestral land.

A resolution that the UNSC ought to consider now is one that condemns the Hamas attack on October 7, calls for the release of hostages held by Hamas, calls for the surrender of Hamas militant group and an immediate cessation of hostility of all forms against the Palestinians by Israel including activation of the two-state solution.

The surrendering Hamas may in turn use the hostages to broker safe passages and immunity for their members. Any resolution short of the above is tactically buying more time for the Israel to continue its harsh onslaught on its mortal enemy especially as no measure of pressure on US appears to make her want to fail its own ally if Russia manages not to fail Assad led autocratic regime.

• Olusoga wrote via [email protected]