The armed conflict between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel has completed almost two weeks with nearly more than 4000 lives lost from both sides so far. The intensity of the war keeps rising and on Tuesday, attained heights of cruelty that should put the entire humanity to shame. More than 500 civilians were killed in a deadly blast at Al Ahli Arab Hospital based at Gaza and left thousands more injured.
Bodies scattered around the premises of the hospital, hundreds of damaged vehicles, wailing sounds and efforts to still take the injured ones out on the stretchers. Hamas and Israel blamed each other for the attack. While Hamas called it a genocide by Israel, Israel in response said that the blast was caused by rockets misfired by Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Israel’s defence ministry has also released a video to support their claims. Al Ahli Arab hospital is run by the Anglican church and does not involve any political group. And yet, the hospital fell prey to the violence. Now, the war is on the verge of escalating even further as US President Joe Biden met with Israel’s prime minister in Tel Aviv and declared his support to Israel.
The question is, how many more innocent civilians will lose their lives? On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel with a barrage of at-least 3000 rockets. In response, Israel pummelled the Gaza Strip with airstrikes. Palestine’s Minister of Health Dr Mai al-Kaila has claimed the Palestinian death toll is exceeding 3,300 with more than 13,000 being injured in the Gaza Strip. On an average, 400 people were killed everyday in the last two weeks. Israel’s pledge to end Hamas has taken a terrifying form which has threatened the Palestinian militant group of finishing what Hamas started.
Some of the major rules were laid down during the treaties signed in Geneva Conventions after the conclusion of World War II. These rules are in fact international humanitarian laws which define who can be targeted during a war and who cannot and what kind of weapons can be used etc. However, Hamas is not a country and the rules were violated from both sides. As per the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, a distinction should be made between combatants and civilians who take no active part in the war. Civilians, injured and prisoners are protected in the war zone as per these conventions. These Conventions which form the core of international humanitarian laws also bans killings, torture and taking civilians hostage. The guiding principles laid by the International Court also condemns sexual assaults, forceful migration and demolition of properties not required militarily. Unfortunately, all these laws were trampled during the ongoing conflict. There is no disagreement that Hamas initiated the conflict not only by launching rockets, but their armed terrorists breached the Gaza-Israel border and attacked innocent children, women and senior citizens mercilessly.
As per Israeli authorities, Hamas’ attack on October 7 killed more than 1400 Israelis while taking 200 civilians hostage. As a response, Israel pledged to completely uproot Hamas and battered Gaza with relentless bombings. They also cut off supplies of food, water, fuel as well as electricity to the Gaza Strip and forced Palestinians from North Gaza to immediately leave the place. This is not only the violation of laws of war, but also strangulation of humanity. Therefore the nation such as the United States of America, whose President Joe Biden is friends with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for more than 40 years, must interfere in the conflict to put an end to it. The Israel-Palestine conflict is not new and dates back to British-era. This conflict between Arabs and Jews is blood-soaked which gave rise to the international city of Jerusalem.
The prime intention behind creation of Israel was to free Jews from Palestinian torment and persecution. Which is why when Israel proclaimed itself a free state in 1948, five Arab countries had launched an attack on newly established Israel. Since then, the conflict has only escalated between the two countries. There have been innumerable attempts made to defuse the conflict as recently as in 2014 but with no success. It is indeed difficult to state where this will lead to. Hamas might be uprooted too but by then thousands of innocent lives will be lost. Any hospital is a sanctuary for patients and victims and to attack it, is simply unjustifiable regardless of what Hamas and Israel claims to be.
