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Brutal and senseless

An effort jointly initiated by Egypt and France to bring to halt Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip merits the wholehearted support of the international community. The deaths of over 40 Palestinians, including women and children, in a mortar attack near a school run by the United Nations on January 6 have turned the spotlight on Israel’s brutal disregard for civilian lives even as it conducts military operations in densely populated localities. The argument that Hamas is basically responsible for the devastation because it triggered the latest round of hostilities has faded into irrelevance given the gross disproportionality of the suffering inflicted by Israel. Over 650 have died on the Palestinian side while Israeli deaths number less than a dozen. There is an acute shortage of food, medicines, oil, power and water in the Gaza Strip and hospitals are over-stretched as they try to cope with the estimated 3,000 wounded. In persisting with rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities, Hamas provides substance to the Israel’s claim that it is fighting a campaign against a terrorist outfit. While the tactics adopted by the Islamist militants need to be condemned, it should be remembered that the barrages of Qassam and Katyusha missiles fired over the years have inflicted only a fraction of the destruction that Israel’s 10-day long air and ground actions have inflicted. The Egyptian-French initiative appears to address the concerns of both the antagonists since it could entail the deployment in the Gaza Strip of a multinational force mandated to stop offensive actions by either side.

Israel could conceivably achieve its military objectives if a ceasefire does not hold. The infrastructure that Hamas has built for its campaign, including the tunnels dug to bring in material across the Sinai-Gaza border and the sites where missiles are assembled could be destroyed. A multinational force, if deployed, might at least retard if not totally prevent the rebuilding of this infrastructure. However, Hamas is not likely to disappear from the scene and the resistance it has put up in the latest round of hostilities could well strengthen its political position. When the rocket attack campaign is brought to an end, by whichever means, Israel would be pressed by the international community to lift the economic quarantine it has imposed on the Gaza Strip. Given the reality that Tel Aviv might have to learn to live with Hamas controlling a part of the Palestinian homeland, the ongoing assault appears to be as senseless as it is brutish.

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