An Israeli airstrike on Thursday hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, that has been turned into a shelter for displaced families, killing at least 17 people. The majority of victims were women and children; another devastating scenario during the ongoing fighting. The Palestinian medical officials reported that 13 children under 18 and three women were killed while another 42 people were injured as per the hospital, Awda. One really cannot think of the anguish in these places, which are supposed to be safe zones, turning into war areas.
Israel argues that the terrorists of Hamas were using the school as a “hideout” and so targeted the school. However, they did not provide any evidence for this and many questions surround the justification for such an attack on civilians. For months now, this has not been the first incident in which schools and shelters have been bombed, often killing civilians, including women and children in the crossfire.
At the same time, I also feel from a personal perspective that militants are hiding along with civilians. Even then, the idea of bombing such places where women and children are taking shelter appears extreme. It’s very difficult to support one side fully when such a cost is on vulnerable lives. What could be more valuable than innocent lives during such times of volatility?
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Diplomatic Efforts Underway?
The U.S. strikes continue unabated, and even as it sits down to discuss diplomatic solutions to the Syrian conflict, there’s little indication that the desired changes are around the corner. Once again, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East and on yet another diplomatic mission. So, importantly, he keeps telling everybody that Israel has dismantled Hamas way back and that is a diplomatic way of saying perhaps soon Israel is ready to discuss a possible cease-fire. But wait, here’s the catch, While it looks very much like Israel is almost there, what about Hamas? At least until now, there does not seem to be any resolution where they are ready to soften their stance. For example, one senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said that they remain unwilling to be pressured out of their stance—and that stance is that Israel must halt its assault on Gaza and withdraw fully from the territory. Such inflexible postures only serve to revive arguments over whether meaningful negotiations can now commence.
This being the case, the U.S. continues to pursue, with discussions set to continue in Qatar. The head of Israel’s Mossad is supposed to meet with the CIA Director and Qatari officials in an attempt to restart negotiations. It feels like this is one of those thin situations where both sides stand firm, but the U.S. hopes to get something out of these new talks. I believe that while those debates were indeed necessary unless both sides come to the table in good faith and prepared to compromise, we may well be looking at another round of failed diplomacy.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Northern Gaza
As all this is being discussed, the situation in northern Gaza is now becoming catastrophic. Hospitals bear the brunt of it. One of the few remaining hospitals in the North, Kamal Adwan Hospital said they can barely maintain themselves with the extreme shortage of medical supplies, doctors, and even painkillers says the director, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiyeh. People, among them, were children in critical care, who were dying because the hospital could not provide proper treatment.
Not a day goes by without witnessing the most heart-wrenching scenarios inside Gaza, as hospitals collapse, medical staff are stretched to the limit, and supplies nearly stand at zero. The footage coming out is heart-breaking: kids wrapped in bandages, hooked up to breathing machines, with flies floating above them. How long can this continue before the entire healthcare system just implodes? The worst part is that even ambulance services cannot send the injured people; those who reach the hospitals somehow manage to their way, while others just die in the streets.
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Hard to imagine how, in the 21st century, such suffering continues. I think at this point that it is high time for the international community to do more than speak. Humanitarian aid is necessary, but it appears that the Gaza blockade blocks even the essentials.
Suspension of Rescue Operations
However, this is not the only one under attack. The Civil Defense, which is a Hamas-run body responsible for first responder services within Gaza, has suspended services in the north. They report that Israeli forces attacked their teams, wounding several and destroying one of their fire trucks. In retaliation, firefighting, rescue, and emergency medical services have all been suspended in those areas. Northern Gaza, already besieged, will be that much more vulnerable.
This can get only worse when considering the number, over 42,000 Palestinians have died since the war started, and many more have been forced out of their homes. Huge parts of Gaza are now in rubble as a result of the Israeli offensive, and nearly 90% of its 2.3 million residents have been displaced multiple times. Neighborhoods were reduced to nothing; people were left to fend for themselves in crowded, unsafe tent camps along the coast.
Lebanon: Another Front Opens
But Gaza is not the only front. The war has spread to Lebanon, where Israeli forces have clashed with Hezbollah militiamen. Lebanese health officials reported 19 more dead from airstrikes on Thursday alone, bringing the toll in Lebanon to more than 2,500 since the fighting began. Israel said four of its reservists were killed in southern Lebanon, one of the deadliest days for Israeli forces since they launched their ground invasion of the country.
This is definitely a dangerous escalation in my opinion. When conflict spreads into neighboring countries such as Lebanon, implicating groups like Hezbollah, this then opens up an even more wide-ranging regional instability. The stakes are too high, and we might be staring right into a far larger regional conflict that is much more hard to control.
A Gloom Outlook
All that’s clear to me is that the drama unfolding before us in Gaza does not come easily to be solved as Israel does all it can to destroy Hamas, which poses such a great threat, and the human cost is dreaded here. That price is being paid in blood by innocents; meanwhile, there’s more to the involvement of diplomacy than putting on Band-Aids over an infinitely more serious wound.
At this time, I think the only way forward is through compromise in some form, though both parties are so rigid on their positions that much as I want to foresee it is hard to see at the moment. For the sake of those caught in the middle, I do hope it comes sooner rather than later, but it’s hard not to be pessimistic given the current state of things.
Minutes by M31GlobalNews
