A wave of confusion and fear has gripped the besieged strip in the wake of yet another ultimatum by the Israeli army: move away or be prepared for more destruction, more ruin. Ordering 1.1 million people north of Wadi Gaza to vacate within 24 hours has already sparked criticism from humanitarian agencies like the UN as an “impossible” move. No matter how effective the propaganda mouthpieces may be, ordering such an unbelievably large number of people to uproot themselves, especially when there’s no evidence available of their links with militancy, would go down as the largest genocide trigger in modern history. Support for the Palestinian cause has always been sporadic. Other than hashtags on social media and politically motivated protest demonstrations, the Muslim world is still to take effective steps to validate its brotherly sentiments. By making hundreds of Palestinians pay for the crimes of Hamas alone, Israel, under PM Benjamin Netanyahyu has unleashed hellfire upon a heavily-fortified strip (often described as the most densely-populated open-air prison) for the fifth time in less than two decades. A severe 16-year blockade on the Egyptian front has rendered any attempt to escape a trip into the fool’s paradise. The seemingly neverending deaths, strikes terrorizing the people, and heart-wrenching episodes of material destruction in an area that is hanging to its survival by a thread would trigger nothing beyond the mainsprings explaining the foundation and resilience of militancy. The complex web is fast reaching out to regional players like Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia that are busy making phone calls and attending meetings. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres continues to sound the alarm: “We must avoid spillover of the conflict.” The need for diplomacy is getting stronger by the minute amid the cacophony of support messages and heated fracture lines. While mediation cannot be stressed enough, it cannot happen at the expense of armless, peace-loving civilians. The people of Gaza do not have time to wait as they are killed inside their houses or asked to simply vanish in thin air. *