Israel has lost the plot on Gaza

The war is no more about Tel Aviv’s right to self-defence but increasingly driven by domestic political compulsions

Israel has opted to launch a fresh incursion in the Gaza Strip even after Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar and the United States and the European Union (EU) warned against going ahead with such an assault, reflecting how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spurned mounting international concerns about the conflict. While Israel’s anger after the brazen October 7 terror attacks was understandable, its war has now reached a stage where it is being waged for the sake of waging one. Netanyahu’s goal of ridding Gaza of Hamas now has genocidal implications, since Israeli forces are showing no signs of distinguishing between terrorist fighters and helpless citizens and even international aid workers. In vast swathes of the Gaza Strip, ground to dust by the advanced weaponry provided to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) by the US and other western partners, such distinctions have disappeared.

Palestinian youth carries a child as he walks through the rubble following Israeli bombardment of Rafah's Tal al-Sultan district in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024. The Israeli army said it took "operational control" of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on May 7 and that troops were scanning the area. (Photo by AFP) (AFP)

With Israeli forces taking control of the crucial Rafah crossing on the frontier with Egypt and Israeli jets continuing to bombard other parts of one of the world’s most densely populated enclaves, western officials have warned that there is no longer any safe zone in all of Gaza and that up to 600,000 children could now be in danger.

Already, the unfettered Israeli onslaught on Gaza has resulted in nearly 35,000 deaths, many of them women and children. It would appear the Netanyahu government’s real aim is to both prolong its grip on power and obliterate any possibility of a two-State solution. The US and other European allies of Israel have lost all moral claims to a rules-based order by letting Israel continue this war, which is no more about its right to self-defence.

The war may suit Netanyahu’s domestic political needs, but the liberal world is the loser for it. The unrest on American campuses, public protests in European countries and growing unease on the streets of Arab nations are an indication of which way public opinion is turning. Some say Israel’s behaviour may even cost US President Joe Biden his re-election. India too will find it difficult to defend Israel’s actions, given its need to balance relations with the Arab world. Peace needs to be pursued at all costs in Gaza since this has long ceased to be a localised conflict. It is only luck, and a lot of diplomacy, that have thus far ensured it has not turned into a regional war.