A humanitarian catastrophe is fast evolving in Gaza where Israeli forces are bombarding civilian and military targets alike resulting in large-scale loss of human lives as well as destruction of the entire localities. As per conservative estimates, at least 417 Palestinians were martyred and over 2,000 others were wounded during two days of heavy airstrikes carried out by Israeli warplanes on the residential areas in the besieged Gaza Strip while the death toll from Saturday’s attack by Hamas surged to 700 on the Israeli side.
What Palestinians did to inflict losses on Israel was the direct result of years of brutalities committed by the Jewish State against hapless Palestinians, who are demanding nothing but their fundamental right as supported by the United Nations and the majority of the civilized world. Gaza had become a virtual jail due to the illegal siege of the territory crippling movement of people and goods and the inmates of this vast jail had no option but to retaliate in the face of unending aggression by Tel Aviv and inability of the international community to safeguard their rights. Hamas achieved initial gains as its lightning air, sea and ground attack almost paralyzed the Jewish State and sent shock-waves among its benefactors. It is, however, a foregone conclusion that prolongation of the conflict would add to the agonies and sufferings of the Palestinian people as they have neither economic nor military means to sustain the war.
The United States and some sections of western media raised hue and cry over attacks carried out by Hamas, trying to equate the legitimate freedom struggle as terrorism but they are not only completely silent over wholesale killings by Israeli forces, mostly civilians and their homes and properties in Gaza. The conflict is surely going to escalate as the United States is not just providing political and moral support to Israel but has also announced an urgent provision of $8 billion besides immediate dispatch of military hardware. President Joe Biden sent US ships for deployment near Israel in support of the oppressive Israel Sunday as Washington released further military assistance to fight against Palestinians, becoming a direct party to the conflict. In a statement, the Pentagon said that it was sending the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean while boosting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region. As against the concrete and meaningful assistance that Israel is receiving both in terms of economic and military aid, Palestinians are just hearing expressions of solidarity by the Muslim Ummah and just-minded members of the international community.
The expression of solidarity is no doubt diplomatic victory for Palestinians as is also evident from the proceedings of the UN Security Council where the United States and Israel miserably failed to build a consensus for condemnation of attack by Hamas, indicating the attack was part of long-unresolved issues with Russia urging to take a broader view of the situation rather than denouncing powerful blow by a Palestinian resistance group. There was no consideration of any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia calling for a broader focus than condemning Hamas. This is a clear indication that the United States and Israel would not succeed in securing a UN mandate for their actions against Palestinians. As for the conflict, it is clearly a stone vs missile war because of availability of almost zero technology to Palestinians and possession/supply of all sorts of weapons for the Jewish State.
In this backdrop, it is regrettable that the Muslim world is not showing the kind of urgency it should to save Palestinians and their rights. No doubt, they are expressing complete solidarity with the cause of Palestinians as has also been stated by Pakistan which called for an immediate end to the violence and oppression by Israeli occupation forces. Saudi Arabia is active on the diplomatic front as its Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan engaged in discussions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to address the escalation in Israel and Palestine. Additionally, Prince Faisal held telephone conversations with counterparts in Egypt, Qatar and Jordan to address the evolving situation. However, there is an urgent need to formulate a joint response through the platform of the OIC. An emergency meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers should be convened and based on input from the member countries, an effective strategy be evolved to help resolve the conflict.
