Brutal Israeli response

The Israel-Palestine conflict, while having reached a truce overnight on May 6, does not seem to have a permanent solution. Violence escalated throughout the weekend after a Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, used a sniper to fire and injure two Israeli soldiers. While we sympathise with Gazans and their long-drawn plight, the act by Islamic Jihad was expected to receive a brutal response by Israel, having one of the strongest militaries in the world. More than that, tensions between Palestine and Israel perpetually remain high. The last clashes occurred just about a month ago. With this recent truce brokered by Egypt, we can expect temporary respite, but certainly not a permanent ceasefire — especially given the timing of high tensions with Ramazan commencing for the Muslim-majority Gaza.

Perhaps the alarm for Egypt to intervene was when a pregnant woman, a 14-month-old, and a defenceless four-month-old were killed. Israel denied that the first two people were killed due to Israeli strikes and blamed Hamas rockets. Ultimately, the recordkeeping is most significant for historians; as fellow civilians, we mourn the loss of civilians that were among the approximately 27 people dead on both sides combined. With Israel having a strong army, most of the casualties were Palestinian. Militants, if their exclusive purpose is to reclaim land, neglect to consider the might of the Israeli military and the support it receives from the United States, despite opposition by US activists.

We long for the day when world powers and the United Nations muster deeper will and put an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict with force, yet through peaceful means. Ceasefires have regularly been violated. However, the instigators and retaliators, with world support, are able to get away with it, never mind the families that are broken as a result of their vicious acts.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2019.

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