If two parties that have a distinct lack of trust in each other somehow strike an agreement and then one party decides to unilaterally change the terms of the deal midway through, it would be reasonable to ascribe blame to that party for the breakdown in the deal. But no, let us blame the other side.
That is exactly how the Israel and Hamas deal is going down at the moment. Israel changes the terms, gets rebuffed, blames Hamas and attacks it with full force – a barbaric attack that has already cost hundreds of lives in this disgraceful war and continuing genocide.
Although the Americans are onboard (and to Israel they are the only international power that matters), so far Europe and the Middle East have largely condemned the renewal of violence.
Israel, this time, lacks all justification in its attack. Hamas is still reeling from the blow it suffered in the 15 months of warfare that was paused by a ceasefire in January.
The ceasefire saw several hostages released for thousands of Palestinian prisoners in stage one. The second stage was meant to release the remaining hostages for full withdrawal by Israeli forces and a permanent peace. Israel, though, has decided to renege on the deal – it wants all the remaining hostages now without providing any guarantees of peace. Let us be frank – although the taking of hostages is reprehensible, they are Hamas’s only bargaining chip. Without peace the group is never going to want to give them all up.
Israel preceded the attack with an indirect form of violence by closing the borders to any much-needed aid and cutting off the supply of electricity; group punishment that has affected innocent civilians as much as Hamas.
The move by Israel also reeks of political considerations. No sooner did the Israeli forces attack Gaza once again did Otzma Yehudit (which translates as Jewish Power), led by the racist bigot who has a criminal conviction for supporting a terrorist organization, Itamar Ben-Gvir, rejoin the under-pressure Israeli government.
There is a lot going on in internal Israeli politics at the moment – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing criminal charges and he needs the support of parties like Otzma Yehudit (which is against any deal with Hamas and pulled out of the government when the January ceasefire came into force) as he seeks to push through unpopular judicial reforms that will hurt the independence of the courts.
It is sickening that the lives of children are being sacrificed so that a politician can remain in power but that is the level the world has sunk to.
The fact that Ben-Gvir’s party has rejoined the governing coalition suggests that the renewed attacks on Hamas and the Palestinian people will not end soon. Hostage groups fear that the renewal of violence will threaten the lives of the 24 hostages still being held by Hamas. There have already been reports from hostages who have been released in the ceasefire deal that they were tortured by their captors when negotiations did not go well. One shudders to think how they are suffering now.
And through it all innocent Palestinians will continue to endure even greater horrors. No one understands suffering better than the Palestinian.
