Iran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel on Tuesday night as retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli military said most of the missiles were intercepted, but that a small number struck central and southern Israel. It was Iran’s second such attack on Israel this year, after it launched about 300 missiles and drones in April.
The latest attacks appear to have used Iran's Fattah-1 and Kheybarshekan missiles, both of which have a reported range of about 1,400 kilometres (870 miles). Iran has said both missiles have manoeuvring warheads, which can make defence more difficult, and use solid fuel, meaning they can be launched with little warning.
Following the attacks, Israel has warned Iran of consequences, which means we are now going to see intensification of the conflict in the Middle East that began with attacks on Israel on October 7 last year by Hamas militant group, which is also backed by Iran, just like Hezbollah.
Iran must realise that Israel is having patronage of the US, the sole official superpower in the world right now, although China has emerged as a serious challenger. Till the US is supporting Israel, Iran can’t hope to destroy the former, either by direct military confrontation or through its proxies – Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran is barking up the wrong tree because Israel is no pushover. This has been proven by the latter time and again. Iran should jog its memory a bit and remember that Israel singlehandedly decimated the military of three Arab countries – Egypt, Syria and Jordan. It withstood the barrage of Scud missiles fired by Iraq during the first Gulf War. It has fended off attacks from terrorist groups.
But that is not the point. The issue here is, in this mindless conflict, it is the common people who are paying the price.
Next week, it will be the first anniversary of the attacks on Israel by Hamas militants. This unwarranted strike, just to bring the world’s attention towards Palestine, has led to unimaginable losses of lives and property. As of 23 September 2024, over 43,000 people (41,431 Palestinian and 1,706 Israeli) have been reported as killed in the Israel–Hamas war, including 116 journalists.
The vast majority of casualties have been in the Gaza Strip where over 60% of Gazans have lost family members since October 7, 2023.
The world powers must intervene to end this cycle of violence, which has taken thousands of lives already. This conflict is turning out to be a zero-sum game. Nobody is going to gain anything from this violence, but there is everything to lose. The body bags of innocent lives, who will be killed in the crossfire, are going to pile up further.
At least 306 humanitarians and over 900 medical workers have been killed in Gaza. An estimated 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza (90 per cent) are now displaced, with many experiencing multiple forced displacements as a result of persistent Israeli relocation orders.
Aid supply has reached the lowest levels since October 2023. According to the Lebanese government, in Lebanon, 1,640 have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the last week alone. Over one million people in Lebanon have been displaced since October 2023.
The Israeli government reports that 34 people in northern Israel and 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights have been killed since October 8, 2023 (Amnesty International report).
Over 68,000 people remain displaced from northern Israel and 75,200 people remain displaced from Israel’s Gaza periphery.
As we can see, conflicts have never served any purpose to mankind. It has only spelt doom for the common civilians, who are sandwiched between warring governments, because it is the politicians who thrive in conflict as it allows them to divert the attention of its people from the administrative failures.
Time has come for the people to rise up and say enough is enough, we don’t want any more conflict. This is because, the politicians don't care about its people. For them, the people are pawns in the larger power game. In such a scenario, the common citizens have to take the cudgels and force the warring parties to cease fire.