CRESCIA: The status quo is no longer acceptable

No place on earth is as complicated as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is a minefield that involves a historical dispute that dates back to the bible, several wars costing thousands of lives, millions displaced and decades of bloodshed.The current war has added to the carnage with the brutal slaughter of 1,400 Israelis by the terrorist group Hamas and the Israel Defence Forces are bombing Gaza into fields of rubble, resulting in 10,500 Palestinian deaths.Israelis and Palestinians share the Holy Land and live in a state of fear from ongoing violence. The Israelis suffer random attacks and at any time the terror group Hamas can launch hundreds of rockets targeting cities. In Gaza, Palestinians live in dire poverty under a blockade enforced by Egypt and Israel and the area has become an open-air prison. Life in the West Bank, ruled by the moderate Fatah party, is just as miserable with regular Israeli raids that have killed 150 Palestinians in 2023. The status quo is no longer acceptable and the only path forward is the elimination of Hamas and for the Fatah to take over Gaza and the West Bank under one government.Hamas has never recognized Israel’s right to exist, does not believe in a two-state solution, uses its people as human shields and has spent years preparing for war. Hamas has built a labyrinth of 1,300 tunnels, known as the Gaza Metro, covering 300 miles across a Gaza strip that is only 25 miles long to transport food, fuel and munitions.The tunnels act as their headquarters to plan and prepare to fight an unconventional war against the better-trained Israeli forces. During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong used tunnels in the jungle to hide during the day and come out at night to fight. The Americans flew B-52 bombers dropping tons of bombs with limited success. What makes the IDF’s job even more difficult is that two million people are living in Gaza City, one of the most densely populated places on the planet.Under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has been weakened. He allowed Hamas to survive and even thrive as a way to keep the Palestinians divided. Netanyahu allowed Qatari envoys to visit Gaza carrying millions of dollars that would fall into the hands of Hamas to help fund their operations.Speaking to his Likud party in 2019, Netanyahu stated: "Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas. This is part of our strategy to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank."Netanyahu is possessed of extraordinary hubris; where former prime ministers have resigned over corruption charges he continues to fight a litany of criminal charges in the courts. His quest to hold onto power had him form a coalition government with extremist parties that were in favour of annexing more West Bank land. He has gone after the highest court in the land to take away the judicial independence of judges by putting them under more political control, which has led to massive protests and divided Israel.In an article in Haaretz, Israeli journalist Ravit Hect writes there is growing anger with Netanyahu in the highest ranks of the Likud party. “Every decision Netanyahu has made over the past two years has been bad, including the reform,” says one Likud minister. “He either makes no decisions at all, or he makes bad ones."And she quotes one Likud minister as saying: “There is complete unanimity regarding the fact that after the war, Netanyahu is done. As we speak, Likud is preparing to place Netanyahu’s head on a platter to save the party. If he does not draw the necessary conclusions, others will draw them for him.” From a military perspective, Netanyahu’s military strategy is to bomb Gaza into submission and force the release of the hostages. Israel dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza during the first six days of the war; in comparison, the US dropped 7,423 bombs on Afghanistan during all of 2019.The bombing of Gaza into ruins is a risky strategy that not only can cost the lives of the hostages but also allows Hamas more ground to hide in and around the toppled buildings and fight asymmetrically above and below ground.The Israelis have one of the best-trained and most adaptable armies in the world. In 1976 they pulled off a daring rescue mission during the Entebbe Raid. Against all odds, in the pitch of darkness they flew cargo planes, avoiding radar, two thousand plus miles into Ugandan territory, bordered by Egypt and Saudi Arabia who were enemies at the time and in one hour freed 102 hostages. The mission showed the world that terrorism could be defeated.Today they have a huge technological advantage over Hamas with the use of remote-controlled robots, aerial surveillance and sponge bombs that do not explode and can seal tunnels. Plus an elite unit specially trained in tunnel warfare.Israel does not need to destroy all of Gaza and can rely on its superiority in numbers and technology to surgically remove the terrorists from their underground lair.Hamas's only hope for survival is to extend the battle for months and allow civilian casualties to mount and hope that world opinion turns against Israel as it will be hard to stomach the daily death count that includes women and children.Thus far the US has given the Netanyahu government free rein on the handling of the war but serious disagreement on how to handle the Palestinian issue post-war is going to emerge. Netanyahu has stated, “Israel will have overall security responsibility in Gaza for an indefinite period after its war with Hamas.”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rejected any lasting Israeli control of Gaza. “We’re very clear on no reoccupation, just as we’re very clear on no displacement of the Palestinian population," he stated, “We need to see and get to, in effect, unity of governance when it comes to Gaza and the West Bank and ultimately to a Palestinian state.”As the war ends the US and the world community must step in with a multi-national peacekeeping force and the investment needed to implement a civil administration run by Fatah and the beginning of a framework for a Palestinian state that will give millions of people hope and replace hate and violence with political and economic freedomOtherwise, history will continue to repeat itself.

CRESCIA: The status quo is no longer acceptable

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