Daily Times

The people of Palestine continue to suffer at the hands of the Zionist regime in Israel. It all started when eight civilians were killed on Thursday in a series of attacks on vehicles near the Egyptian border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge. “This was a grave incident in which Israelis and Israeli sovereignty were harmed. Israel will respond accordingly,” said Netanyahu. Israel blamed the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) for the attacks and carried out airstrikes over the Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 Palestinians. The PRC denied it was involved in the attacks on Thursday. After the Israeli airstrikes, militants from Gaza fired rockets into Israel. A diplomatic crisis ensued when five Egyptian policemen were killed by Israeli fire while pursuing gunmen. Egypt then said it would recall its ambassador to Israel to protest this incident. Israeli President Shimon Peres tried to resolve the crisis by offering an apology. “None of us wanted nor will want in the future for an Egyptian soldier to be killed, even in these difficult situations,” said Peres. The Egyptian government said the apology was insufficient. Despite this diplomatic tussle, the militants in Gaza have agreed to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire.

The world either remained silent or blamed the Palestinians for setting off another round of Israeli aggression. This is typical of the international community whenever there is a standoff between Israel and Palestine. The US hardly ever criticised Israel for committing human rights violations and refuses to recognise the democratically elected government of Hamas. Although the world has labelled Hamas a “terrorist organisation”, the truth is that Hamas is a nationalist resistance that was forced to resort to violence because it had so little power compared to Israel. After Fatah’s co-option by the US (and Israel), Hamas is the only Palestinian group with the legitimacy needed to bring peace to the region.

It seems that the latest round of violence was an excuse Israel needed to sabotage the possible recognition of an independent Palestinian state by the UN General Assembly in September. Whatever Israel’s motivation, things can spiral out of control in the Middle East at the smallest possible provocation. It is time that the world urges both sides to show restraint instead of just pressurising the Palestinians while turning a blind eye to Israeli crimes. *