The horror in Gaza is reaching toward the final stage. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to invade Rajah, where over a million Palestinians have taken shelter after being forced from their homes to an area Israel initially designated as a safe zone. As humanitarian protests spread across this country and Europe, President Biden, as well as the leaders of countries across the world, have called on Israel to stop, calling for a ceasefire. Biden has reportedly told the Israeli government that an invasion of Rajah would dramatically affect our relationship. There are even reports that the administration has delayed delivery of some of the military weaponry being shipped to Israel. Yet, what looked like promising negotiations for a ceasefire and exchange of hostages and beginning of longer-term negotiations–have just broken down because Netanyahu insists that he will invade Rajah, ceasefire or not.
This standoff takes place amid a scene of unimaginable horror. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children. Another 10,000 are said to be buried in the rubble. A staggering 70 percent of all housing in Gaza has been reduced to rubble beneath the most intense bombing witnessed since World War II. The destruction has been visited on all 12 of Gaza’s universities, as well as schools, libraries, museums, and hospitals. UN officials report that the number of unexploded missiles and bombs has reached levels not seen since World War II. Now, the United Nations reports that famine is beginning to take hold in the north, with children particularly at risk.
In inflicting this destruction, Israel has isolated itself from the global community. Only the U.S. veto has protected it from condemnation in the UN Security Council. Yet Netanyahu openly defies President Biden despite the fact that Israel’s military remains dependent on U.S. aid. Netanyahu also scorned the International Court of Justice, which ruled that there was the threat of imminent genocide in Gaza and called on Israel to take immediate steps to forestall it.
This humanitarian catastrophe cannot continue. Israel’s fury is a reaction to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack where 1,100 Israelis were killed and 252 were taken hostage. Netanyahu has vowed to extirpate Hamas, but his strategy has laid waste to Gaza and slaughtered civilians. Violence begets violence. Surely, even he must know that the violence is only reinforcing the hatred that will generate more, not less, violence in the future.
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