The Elusive Peace

Brig. Ravi Palsokar (retd)

The recent surprise attacks by Hamas across the border from the Gaza Strip, their unexpected success, and the expectedly violent reaction by Israel has again brought to the fore the fraught relations between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Given the increasing terrorist actions across the globe, the world has become inured to senseless violence, and yet, after the Hamas attack targeting innocent citizens and particularly women and little children, there is a sense that a line has been crossed. This appears to be a watershed moment and it remains to be seen how this latest flare-up of violence resolves itself, though it is likely to fester for a long time to come.

Israel is a nation born of war and has faced many a threat to its existence. However, there are two sides to the argument. The plight of the Palestinians in their ever-decreasing state evokes worldwide sympathy. Thus, we have two states playing the victim card. It is impossible to ignore the emotional aspect in discussions because the Holocaust – the Nazis’ attempts during World War II to wipe out the Jewish race, remains a living memory for the Israelis, a proud race.

What has Happened

Hamas, a US and European Union designated terrorist organisation, has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2006. The Strip is a Palestinian enclave on the southwestern border with Egypt. On the morning of October 7, on the holy day of Simchat Torah when Jews complete and recommence the annual reading of the Torah, Hamas launched a coordinated surprise attack across the fenced border using explosives, bulldozers, and in one case, hang gliders. Their aim was to cause havoc, inflict as many casualties as possible irrespective of gender or age, and take hostages. They were singularly successful and an as yet unconfirmed number of hostages including soldiers, civilians, old women and little children, have been taken across the border and are being held.

Israel is sensitive to its people being taken hostage by terrorists and has in one recent case traded over a thousand Palestinian prisoners to get the release of one soldier. Now that the hostages including babies, are in the hundreds, their fate and release weighs uppermost in all Israelis’ minds. Israel has mobilised its forces, called up reservists, cleared the border areas of intruders and is poised to attack the Gaza Strip which houses Hamas. The problem is that Hamas is approximately one and half thousand strong but the rest of the population is in the hundreds of thousands. A hospital in the Gaza Strip has been hit and irrespective of who is responsible, Israel or Hamas, the death toll at the last count exceeds four hundred innocent citizens. The Gazan population has nowhere to go, and it is an irony that Egypt, a fellow Arab state, is unwilling to open its border to let in refugees though it has just allowed limited relief convoys carrying essential medical aid.

Unless something happens and fast, a human tragedy of unheard-of magnitude is in the offing and the rest of the world has no solutions to offer. Iran has warned that it is prepared to open Israel’s northern front through its (terrorist) proxy, Hezbollah. India, professing friendship with both Israel and Palestine as well as Arab states, has been careful to weigh its words, condemning terrorist violence while acknowledging the Palestinians’ right to exist and live peace