By: Azhar Azam
A spree of Israeli merciless bombings on Gaza Israel's attacks has slaughtered more than 7,000 Palestinians including 3,000 children. The situation is gruesome for 1.4 million internally displaced, 50,000 pregnant women and thousands of injured, being crucified over fast-depleting water, food, fuel, electricity and health necessities and deadly infectious diseases.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu indeed is heading the most right-wing government of ultranationalist Jews in Israeli history. His top aides want to tighten the country's control on the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, Israel captured in 1967 and Palestinians aspire to make their future state. Extreme rightist Zionists have unvaryingly used dehumanizing language against Palestinians and Arabs by calling them as “drugged cockroaches” and seeking to make their life “unbearable.”
After Hamas' deadliest Oct 7 attacks since the 1973 Yom Kippur (Arab-Israel) War, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised “no gas, no food, no electricity” to Palestinians, describing them as "human animals." Israeli General Ghassan Alian sought same treatment and said “you wanted hell, you will get hell.” Ramzay Baroud, in his glaring piece, shed light on the Jewish mindset and US support of the Palestinian genocide with irrefutable proof.
Netanyahu's fellow party member Ariel Kallner demanded a neo-Nakba, launching a much stronger mass displacement and ethnic-cleansing of Palestinians than that of 1948. Israeli President Isaac Herzog suggested civilians were legitimate targets. Palestinians are sought to flee to Jordan or face a “Great Nakba.”
Ruthless Israeli regime is getting unreserved diplomatic and military support from Washington to implement its horrific agenda. US President Joe Biden immediately pledged to send ammunition to Israel. During his visit to Israel, he told Netanyahu “I’m a Zionist.” Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley patted Netanyahu "finish them.” We are in a religious war…Level the place,” said Senator Lindsey Graham. Anthony Blinken ignited controversy by posing himself as “not only as the United States Secretary of State but also as a Jew.”
Many evangelical Christians believe the existence of Israel is crucial for “fulfilling the prophecy” vis-à-vis Armageddon. Baptist preacher and Fox News contributor Robert Jeffress, who once insisted “God gave Jerusalem – and the rest of the Holy Land – to the Jewish people.” cited the Bible to declare it a “worldwide conflict.” As this year marks 50th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli War, some in the US even want Israel to end this war in Iran.
US unflinching support to Israel's brutality reached the tipping point once latter devastated al-Ahli Hospital. Biden singled out an "errant rocket fired by a terrorist group" and wailed about Israel's victimization. His counterparts such as Canada's Justin Trudeau and UK's Rishi Sunak back his stance, saying Israel has no role in the blast; one wonders how they will discharge Israel of 76 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza, affecting 34 including 19 hospitals per WHO.
On top of $3.8 billion of military assistance to Israel every year, Biden has asked Congress to approve $14 billion for his ally's war chest as part of a $105 billion aid package. Next day, the Pentagon announced it would send missile defense systems to the Middle East. The US has also scaled up its naval power through two aircraft carriers and 2,000 Marines.
Biden's assertion not to back a ceasefire, until all hostages are released, is telling. The US State Department is rather emphatic: "Any ceasefire would give Hamas the ability to rest.. get ready to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel,” indicating Washington has permitted Tel Aviv to kill Palestinians with absolute impunity.
What a turnaround! Washington, London and most European capitals that championed human rights and stood with Ukraine against Russia have suddenly become more pronounced in defending Israeli human rights violations in Gaza, termed as a “flagrant and obvious" western hypocrisy by Human Rights Watch. Ironically, same day Biden announced $100 million in aid to Palestinians, Israel besieged them and snapped them of water, basic human right, food and other services.
By funding Israel’s savagery and rejecting aid agencies' calls of ceasefire, Biden and Western leaders share responsibility of Israel's willful and systematic domicide and genocide of Palestinians. After Israel's shelling on a refugee camp in Gaza, the Obama administration in 2014 had at least called out Israel, demanding it avoid stocking humanitarian disasters.
This administration deserves more condemnation also because just this year, it has passed a revised Conventional Arms Transfer Policy to ensure these weapons don’t facilitate or contribute to "violations of human rights or international humanitarian law," which requires to spare civilians and protect hospitals.
Biden’s policy sparked a dissent within White House, resulting in senior State official resignation since he saw the approach of arming Israel “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory," and chided Congress for not taking human rights issues "seriously." America's iniquitous use of veto power to deny “humanitarian pauses” will be instructive to analyze its eccentric approach to human rights.
US discrimination of Palestinians enraged the Arab and Muslim world. A furious Amman, following the hospital blast, panned Tel Aviv for pushing the region to “brink of the abyss” and shelved a four-way summit comprising leaders from US, Egypt, Jordan and Palestinian, hinting at US aversion to end “war and massacre against Palestinians.”
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE too strongly reproached and held Israel responsible for the detonation of the hospital. Blinken, by making it "clear" to Amman, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo "the United States stands with Israel" helped fuel anti-Israel sentiment.
When a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Iran had “helped plot” attacks on Israel, Tel Aviv rejected the claim. Biden endorsed Israel and witnessed “no clear evidence.” Israel and the US ostensibly didn't want to open new war fronts. Iran too exercised caution to prevent escalation with either; Hezbollah, notwithstanding launching small-scale attacks on Israel, assured Lebanese government it will not enter the war.
Despite extreme rhetoric, Iran has avoided a direct military standoff with Israel or US and it's highly unlikely they will engage in a conflict except for trading barbs. Israel's attack on Gaza rather allows Iran to gain leverage in negotiations with America such as gaining access to its $6 billion, already transferred to Qatar but are staved off by Washington, as part of a US-Iran prisoner swap deal.
Possibility of war spilling over and gripping the region is however real. US warnings to Iran and deployment of two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean raise the prospects of such a tragedy. Blinken says they are “meant as a deterrent”; it serves twin US objectives: bolster Israel security and strengthen America’s posture in gas-rich zone. But at the same time, it could further spell crisis across the region and beyond for Turkey’s Erdogan has cautioned this hinders his efforts to promote peace and will lead to “serious massacres” in Gaza.
Biden contends Hamas attacks aim to disrupt normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia; his marked tendency toward Israel undermines likelihood of any deal. Due to Israeli onslaught, Riyadh – which “every day” was getting closer to Tel Aviv and with whom Netanyahu preempted a deal as “within reach” – was forced to take a jab at western “double standards” and Israeli “criminal practices.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in his meeting with Sunak, described Israeli targeting of Gazans “heinous crime.” Nevertheless, Riyadh is also pursuing to normalize ties with Israel. Just last month, Saudi Arabia alongside Jordan and UAE agreed to join Biden’s plan to build India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that also included Israel.
Most countries in the wider Mideast have developed relations with Israel. UAE in 2021 – after normalization in 20220, which Palestinians branded as “despicable,” “betrayal,” and an expected “poison dagger” from an Arab country – opened an embassy in Tel Aviv and became only the third major Arab state to maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel. Cairo and Amman signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994.
After Erdogan last year characterized Herzog’s visit to Ankara as “historic” and a turning point” in the bilateral relationship, Turkey restored formal ties with Israel. Qatar cut ties with Israel in 2009 over the Gaza war and has held Israel “solely responsible” for the escalation, condemning Israeli strikes on al-Ahli Hospital; it's diplomatically and militarily too weak to be heard internationally.
Palestinians would see these developments anxiously since they could force Arab states to moderate their criticism of Israel, encouraging it to mete out more severe punishment to them including through “new Nakba”. Their suspicions aren’t unfounded given UAE in 2021 deplored west’s failure to designate Hama as terrorist organizations and recently called its attack a “serious and grave escalation.”
About 1.4 million Palestinians – including one million children, facing “critical and protection and humanitarian crisis”– need an immediate ceasefire and assistance. These kids are shaking with fear as Israeli bombs keep hunting them to enforce the principle of Israel’s right of self-defense. While western leaders must not give an unfettered authority and allow Israel to quench its bloodthirst by killing Gazans, regional countries should also stop weighing up their selfish interests before the situation spirals out of control and heat of war reaches their palaces.