Ceasefire talk

As Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza enters its second year, the world seems trapped in the pages of a dystopian novel, where morality has faded, and the suffering of entire populations has become a background hum to global politics. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been injured, thousands killed, entire neighbourhoods wiped out, and over a million people displaced – yet the international response has been painfully hollow. With negotiations underway in Doha once again, hopes for peace are as thin as the air Palestinians struggle to breathe under siege. Cynically, this latest attempt at diplomacy is likely to end in a deadlock, as previous efforts have, due to the fundamentally irreconcilable demands of Hamas and Israel. However, Israel is not alone in its intransigence. This tragedy has gone on for so long because Israel’s allies – particularly in the West – have provided more than just diplomatic cover. They have been complicit through financial and military support, enabling Israel’s near-unchecked violence.

The US, often eager to be seen as a 'peacemaker', has been disturbingly complicit in this crisis. While President Biden’s administration has verbally called for restraint, key officials’ remarks, including those from Kamala Harris and Bill Clinton, betray an insensitivity that only fans the flames of resentment in Gaza and beyond. Clinton’s recent speech, in which he downplayed Palestinian suffering, underscores the degree to which political support for Israel is normalized within American politics, even at the expense of justice. Global leaders' disregard for the United Nations underscores the failure of the institutions meant to protect the vulnerable. Western countries that condemn conservative norms in the Middle East are conspicuously silent as Palestinian women suffer unimaginable brutality. The horrific sexual violence against Palestinian women by Israeli forces remains unaddressed by leaders who otherwise champion gender rights. The hypocrisy is blatant; while women’s rights are weaponised to justify interventions in the Global South, these same voices fall silent in the face of atrocities committed by Israel.

Despite Israel’s insistence that civilian casualties are 'collateral damage', the scale and nature of these attacks reveal a disregard for human life. The killing of Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader Israeli intelligence had claimed was hiding among hostages, exposes the inadequacy of Israel’s intelligence and calls into question the legitimacy of the entire military operation. And yet, the world remains largely passive. In this backdrop of horror and hypocrisy, Palestinians’ resilience has become a beacon. Their unyielding commitment to dignity, to life on their own land, remains undimmed despite the unrelenting violence. The world owes it to Palestine to bring about a lasting solution, one that addresses the core injustices at the heart of this crisis. The Palestine question deserves an answer grounded in human rights, international law, and dignity.