World must act to stop Israel

Words fail to condemn the Israeli air attacks across the Gaza strip on March 18 last, that killed more than 400 Palestinians, mainly women and children. Clearly, this is yet another instance of how Israel can defy all international norms with impunity however much the rest of the world except its mentors in the West may be outraged. The dastardly Israeli attack on defenseless civilians who had just gone to sleep after eating their  pre-dawn meal or 'sahri' to observe their Ramadan fasting thinking it was going to be another day of peace under the ongoing  'ceasefire deal' that began on January 19 brokered by the USA between Hamas and Israel. But their shaky sense of relative calm soon turned into a nightmare by another show of 'shock and awe' by Israel since October 7, 2023 when that country first began such combined artillery and air campaign against Gazans in the name of striking military targets of Hamas. 

The US-brokered Gaza truce set for implementation in a phased manner started on January 19 through exchange of the first batch of Hamas-held Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. But from the very beginning Israel's claim to unilateralism that it could breach the truce as and when it chose to do it, rendered the ceasefire inherently fragile. So, after expiry of the first phase of the truce on March 1, it was a matter of time when Israel would resume the war, that is, the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Hence is the March 18's Israeli attack, without prior warning. In fact, Israel never fully observed the ceasefire with occasional breaches through blocking the flow of aid that included supply of food, water, power, medicine, etc., for the sustenance of the beleaguered Gazans. Now with the resumption of the full-fledged hostilities by Israel, reportedly, in consultation with the White House, the hopes of peace are getting dimmer by the day in that valley of death called Gaza.

 Though Hamas and other Palestinian resistance forces have not as yet retaliated against Israeli attacks to avoid being blamed for breaching the 'ceasefire', their patience, too, must be wearing thin by now with the prospect of restoring peace gradually fading.  Meanwhile, there is no visible attempt by the US, the UN or any other international quarters to reinitiate the ceasefire talks. This is indeed a tragedy that the international community seems helpless to stop the genocide of Palestinians! But the world must act to stop Israel from continuing its mindless killing of the Palestinian people. It is no secret that Israel wants Gaza free from all Palestinians. Had the Palestinians fled Gaza for fear of life, that would make the job easier for Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far right cabinet colleagues. Israel's professed objective in the Gaza war that it is hunting down Hamas to rescue hostages and that the civilian casualties are part of unintended collateral damage is an utter lie. The systematic killing of over 49,000 Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the Israelis so far, according the Palestinian Health Authorities, is deliberate. So, however much the rest of the world might be outraged and overwhelmed by the inhumanity of Tuesday's overnight killings across Gaza, Israeli population and their supporters on either side of the Atlantic may not feel perturbed.

Despite this apparent apathy of the West towards Palestinian lives, one would still like to believe that humanity will prevail and the world conscience would be reawakened to restore peace in Palestine.