With neither Israel or Hamas seemingly concerned about the fate of Palestinian civilians, the trajectory of the now seven-month war is a landscape of tragic hills and valleys.
Current negotiations with Egypt, Qatar and the United States serving as mediators, give occasional glimmers of hope for at least a 40-day truce and partial release of hostages.
Yet on Tuesday morning Israel launched an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza where it seized a border crossing with Egypt, sealing off a point of access for humanitarian workers.
More than 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the region, most of whom have already been displaced many times. Half are children. Of those, 25 percent suffer malnutrition.
According to the United Nations, northern Gaza is experiencing a “full-blown famine.” An incursion into the south cannot help but have the same result.
The Israel-Hamas war has driven around 80 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused destruction on a scale not seen since World War II.
The death toll there has soared to more than 34,500. Of those, an estimated 12,500 are children.
“This is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the secretary general for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
The war has shown the limits of any great power’s capacity to alter the trajectory of two parties who believe they are in an existential conflict.
Without U.S. aid, Israel’s military would be but a shadow of its current force.
Even so, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu appears to treat U.S. advice almost cavalierly. Though the U.S. has made clear it rejects Israel’s plan of a major ground operation in Rafah without a credible plan to evacuate civilians, Tuesday’s incursion has already set the wheels in motion.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to appear before Congress to verify that he accepts Israeli assurances that it isn’t violating either U.S. or international law while using U.S. weapons.
Even if Blinken’s assessment equivocates, it’s unlikely to change Israel’s course.
The U.S. has made clear it will support Israel’s defense against the terrorist group. But that support warrants a plan other than the continued annihilation of civilians. Otherwise, the blood is on our hands as well.
— Susan Lynn
