Back to Israel’s latest war in Gaza. In fact, there is always war, because that’s what you could call the remote Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip. But I’m referring to the latest bomb-and-missile violence that started August 5 and ceasefire on the 7th, yes, so didn’t end but paused. Typically, such a war begins with a Palestinian attack on Israel by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip apart from the remote Israeli occupation, after which Israel’s air force and military do their best to weaken Hamas.
Last May was an example of this, and 2008, 2012 and 2014. Don’t eliminate what Israel could easily do given its military superiority, but hit it in such a way that Hamas’ leaders keep quiet again. Elimination would lead to anarchy, greater scope for more extreme groups, and probably direct reoccupation, which is something Israeli governments absolutely do not want.
This war started differently, with the arrest of a leader of such a more extreme group, Islamic Jihad, in the directly occupied West Bank. Israel then said it carried out pre-emptive strikes against Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Hamas stood aside – because it benefits from a beating ahead of the competition? – but Islamic Jihad responded with 1,100 rockets toward Israel. Direction, because according to Israeli spokesmen about 200 of them waved off and hit on their own property. On the Israeli side, some were injured; on the Palestinian side 49 dead, including 17 children – the usual ratio between Israeli and Palestinian victims. At least ten of those children died at the hands of Palestinian dropouts, Israeli reports said. Own fault.
But the Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote last week that five children who died on the last day of the war had not been killed by friendly fire but by an Israeli attack. The children, aged between four and 17, were in a cemetery in the densely populated refugee camp of Jabalya, the only place where they could play. Army sources assured that the “armed forces had made all reasonable efforts to limit damage to civilians and their property.” Apart from the dead, the damage was of course extensive, on top of the residual damage from the earlier wars. The mess just keeps getting bigger.
What is my point today, you may want to know. Well, that we know all about that growing, literal and figurative messwhere 2.1 million people camp in an area of 365 square kilometers, which has been the target of an Israeli land, sea and air blockade for 15 years, where unemployment is above 50 percent, the water from the tap is undrinkable, if all goes well there will be electricity for 12 hours a day and where a new round of violence is always threatening – and that we all just let that continue.
No, it’s not just Israel’s fault or work; Hamas and other Palestinian groups are jointly responsible. But Israel is by far the strongest and also has the support of the West. “My support for Israel’s security is long-standing and unwavering, including its right to defend itself against attacks,” President Biden said after the latest ceasefire. The EU called for restraint. No one stands up for the citizens of Gaza.
Caroline Roelants is a Middle East expert and separates the facts from the hype here every week.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of August 22, 2022