Need for Peace: Israel-Palestine Conflict Continues

The Recent Developments

Israel and Palestine are currently entangled in one of their worst conflicts in years. The situation in the Middle East grew grave starting the evening of May 10 with both sides engaging in heavy exchanges of fire. 

It all started with separate but interlinked incidents that constantly added up, fuelling the conflict even further. Around mid-April 2021, six Palestinian families faced looming eviction orders, forcing around 40 Palestinians, 10 children among them, out of the homes they have inhabited since the 1950s in Sheikh Jarrah.

This was followed by protests by supporters in Israel, East Jerusalem, and the occupied West Bank in solidarity with those facing eviction. This sparked clashes between Israeli and Palestinian security forces which soon intensified with gangs of Israeli Jews marching the streets of East Jerusalem chanting “Death to Arabs”. This triggered riots and violence between Arabs and Jews across the cities.

Following the riots, on May 7, the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslim worshipers congregated at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Palestine, regarded as Islam’s one of the most sacred sites for their Friday prayers, after which the Palestinians at the mosque commenced demonstrations raising both the Palestinian and the Hamas flags.

Later that day, Israeli police troops dispersed the gathered protesters through the use of stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber-coated steel bullets. This clash left hundreds of Palestinians as well as almost 20 police officers injured. 

Soon after, the Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas, which has its control established over the Gaza strip since 2007, sent an ultimatum that threatened to attack Israel if it did not withdraw its deployed forces from the mosque and Sheikh Jarrah.

Hamas began firing rockets over Israel starting May 10 and Israel used its iron dome missile defence system and stopped one of the rockets. Properties were damaged by the other rockets but no casualties were reported. To retaliate, Israel responded with airstrikes on Gaza due to which two innocent children ended up losing their lives.

The airstrikes grew targeting more and more cities. Israeli forces killed 10 senior Hamas military figures as well as quite a few citizens. Israel also fired tanks at Palestine from inside the Israeli territory. In response to this, Hamas attacked Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Beersheba with rockets.

To add to the chaos, many towns saw a flare-up of Arab-Jewish riots which led to the declaration of an emergency in many cities and the police arresting hundreds of Jewish and Arab rioters.
As the exchange of fire continued, Israeli forces in the West Bank and Jordan killed 11 protesters.

At the Israel and Lebanon border, the Lebanese were protesting in support of Palestine. Some of the protesters attempted to cross a security fence on the border and one of them was shot dead by the Israeli troops.

Lebanon responded to this by launching six rockets towards Israel that ended up falling short and landing in the Lebanese territory. On May 17, Israel responded to this move by the Lebanese by firing into southern Lebanon.

The Casualties

The past two weeks have seen the violence aggravate across the regions injuring many. More than 200 people have lost their lives in Gaza and 12 in Israel. Tor Wennesland, who is the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, claimed that this has been the deadliest escalation between Israeli military forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza in nearly seven years.

Even the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, hadn’t witnessed violence this grave in quite a few years. The alarming numbers report 177 Palestinians and 10 Israelis killed by Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian military rockets.

According to Israeli official sources, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas have launched 2900 indiscriminate rockets to Israel from Gaza. this is responsible for the death of nine innocent Israelis which includes two children and five women and an Indian national as well. Additionally, injuring over 250 others.

The May 10 rocket attacks by the Hamas reached as far as the outskirts of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and its suburbs as well as the Ben Gurion airport. While Israel used its Iron Dome system to intercept several rockets, many others fell short inside Gaza and as many as 450 fell in built-up areas, accounting for Palestinian casualties.

Multiple locations reported direct hits too, that inflicted damage upon commercial and residential property, as well as a crude oil pipeline and a school. The civilian casualty rate is too disturbing and doesn’t seem to cease with the Gaza authorities reporting at least 44 children and 31 women killed, along with around 1200 of them injured. More than 34,000 people have been forcefully displaced from their homes.

Additional Struggles for the Commoners

Owing to the severe infrastructural damage in Gaza, there has been a lack of electricity which translated into a decline in the availability of clean drinking water and affected sewage treatment plants.

Plus, the already overburdened healthcare system overwhelmed by the shortages in drugs, inadequate equipment as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, is unable to efficiently cater to those injured in the conflicts.

The situation cannot be allowed to sink deeper into chaos. Foreign ministers across the globe call for an immediate ceasefire and eventual brokering of conditions necessary for peaceful negotiations.

Written by - Rishika Taneja
Edited by - Piyush Pandey