A HUNDRED days have passed since Israel launched its grotesque assault on Gaza, a blood-soaked rampage in which Palestinians have been butchered, forcibly evicted, and starved as ‘revenge’ for the Hamas attacks of Oct 7. In the words of one UN official, the violence has been “staining our shared humanity”. But clearly, many Western governments, as well as most leaders of the Muslim world, have shown they have no humanity. How else can one explain the cold silence, or lukewarm calls for ending Israel’s brutality? All this, as nearly 24,000 Gazans have been murdered by Israel’s barbaric war machine, while a famine-like situation persists in the besieged Strip, thanks to Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Moreover, due to the collapse of the healthcare system and sanitation facilities, the threat of the spread of diseases amongst the battered population is also high. Yet, despite such a humanitarian catastrophe, the US — Israel’s primary and most powerful backer — still considers ‘ceasefire’ a word to be shunned.

The chances of Israel achieving its stated goal — eliminating Hamas — are close to nil, while the ongoing operation has, till date, been a strategic and military failure for Tel Aviv. The only thing Israel has managed to ‘achieve’ in this period is the genocidal massacre of the Palestinian people. The UN, OIC and other multilateral bodies have collectively failed to stop the slaughter of Gazans, and the only hope of bringing Israel to justice is the genocide case South Africa has bravely brought to the ICJ against the Zionist regime. Yet hopes should not be too high on this count, as even if the court issues interim injunctions, who will enforce them, with the US firmly in Israel’s corner? Unless the international community finds the courage to stop further Israeli crimes, more bloodshed in Gaza, and a widening of the conflict to the rest of the Middle East, will be the likely outcome.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024