The Israeli-Gaza conflict

Triggered by the abduction and killing of three Jewish teenagers on the West Bank allegedly by members of Hamas, the Palestinian faction, Israelis retaliated by killing a Palestinian teenager.Since then an asymmetrical warfare has ensued in which the Israelis have the upper hand with the Palestinians being the worse for it, as demonstrated by the […]

Triggered by the abduction and killing of three Jewish teenagers on the West Bank allegedly by members of Hamas, the Palestinian faction, Israelis retaliated by killing a Palestinian teenager.
Since then an asymmetrical warfare has ensued in which the Israelis have the upper hand with the Palestinians being the worse for it, as demonstrated by the huge death toll recorded against the latter. With more than 175 Palestinians dead (as at yesterday afternoon), no Israeli had been killed. Israel’s anti-missile defence system has been effective in intercepting rockets fired from Gaza, saving Israeli lives.  
Most of those killed so far have been innocent civilians despite Israel’s claim that it is only targeting ‘terrorists’. In the highly densely populated sliver of territory that is the Gaza Strip it is difficult to target anyone without killing innocent civilians.  
Hawkish elements within the Likud-led Israeli coalition government have been calling for tougher actions against Hamas including Israeli boots on the ground. There are reports that Israel has called up thousands of reservists and it is massing troops along the border with Gaza in preparation for a ground assault, raising the spectre of Israel reoccupying a territory from which it had withdrawn in 2005.
For some time now there had been a stand-off between Israel and the occupied territories. It was the stalled peace process that created a vacuum and the enabling environment for another round of hostilities on both sides of the divide.
Benjamin Netanyahu had voiced his opposition to the rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas after a long period in which they were opposed to each other. Fatah, under the leadership Mahmoud Abbas, has been running the West Bank while Hamas has held sway in the Gaza strip. For a number of reasons, not least the changing political landscape in the Middle East resulting in the alienation of Iran, its main supporter, Hamas was reportedly in dire straits and desperate for allies.
Israel had refused to talk to Fatah because of its reconciliation with Hamas which it considers a terrorist outfit.  Hamas has long been adamant in opposing recognition of the Israeli state while Fatah, the moderate wing of the Palestinians, has been less belligerent in its demands.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been the most intractable of conflicts. Ever since the Camp David Accord in which the US brokered peace between Egypt and Israel there has been no breakthrough in resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, a people dispossessed of their land by the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.  
For decades repeated attempts at brokering peace between Israel and the Palestinians including the quartet of the UN, US, Russia and the EU under the leadership of Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, have been to no avail. Such attempts have failed primarily due to Israel’s refusal to give up the occupied territories in return for peace.
Although it sounds trite, Israel would have to choose between a piece of land and a land of peace. There is no sign that this would happen anytime soon.
A frustrated Palestinian population under siege has become sceptical about promises of a two-state solution without any hope in sight. Moreover, Palestinian perception of the US is that it is not impartial in its peace-making efforts. Its continuous support of Israel has reinforced this perception. It is time that the US reassesses its role and employs an even-handed strategy that would compel Israel to halt its aggression against Palestinians.
There is an urgent need for an immediate ceasefire to stop the on-going killings. The international community must force Israel to do so, for it is the one doing the killings. In the long run, needless to say, there is still the need to find a final solution to the conflict based on the much trumpeted two-state solution.