The shock and horror of the massacres by Hamas in southern Israel have only intensified as the days have gone by and the full extent of the violence has emerged. Young revellers slaughtered as they fled a music festival; babies murdered with their parents; the very young and old taken hostage. This atrocity may not be an existential moment for the state of Israel, as the Yom Kippur war appeared to be 50 years ago. But for Israelis, and for Jews worldwide, their belief in a homeland where they could be safe after centuries of antisemitic persecution lies in tatters. The death toll stands at more than 1,200: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed on one day,” said Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government of extremists has failed to keep its contract with the people. Israelis are stunned that the army took so long to arrive. An estimated 150 hostages are still held. Yet Haaretz reports that the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, urged that the country “strike Hamas brutally, and not take the issue of the captives into account too much”. This is the kind of partner on whom Mr Netanyahu still depends. While his political rival Benny Gantz has now joined an emergency national government, he is unlikely to be a moderating voice.
The history of this conflict is well established. The pressing need now is to address what lies ahead. Israel has a right to defend itself. Nations must also obey the laws of war, refrain from collective punishment and protect civilians. Palestinians are not Hamas. Almost half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are children. They should not have to ask their parents whether they will live.
Israel’s defence minister says that it is fighting “human animals”; a defence spokesman talks of emphasising “damage, not accuracy”; a security official says that Gaza will be a “city of tents”. Whole neighbourhoods have been obliterated by Israeli bombardment, often without the few minutes of warning given in the past. Even after so many years of conflict, families in Gaza have not known the relentlessness of this fear. More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 326 children.
If you drop hundreds of tons of bombs on a densely populated area, large numbers of people will die. If you cut off food, medicine, electricity and water, they will die. Palestinians cannot live safely in Gaza. But nor can they leave, even if they are willing to risk never returning. Israel has bombed the only crossing point, to Egypt. Sieges are, as the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, stressed, a breach of international law. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, and the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, have rightly urged Israel to abide by humanitarian law. The US, UK and others should do likewise. US discussions with Israel and Egypt on brokering an aid corridor and potentially safe passage for civilians must be prioritised.
All the indications are that Mr Netanyahu will send in ground troops, leading to many more Israeli and Palestinian deaths, and potentially wider escalation – a particular peril given regional power shifts drawing in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran. Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, has warned that it would become involved. It has already claimed responsibility for missile attacks.
It is shameful that, while Palestinian and Israeli lives hang in the balance, outsiders are using this catastrophe to promote their own agendas, from Islamophobia and antisemitism to cutting US aid to Ukraine. Social media platforms – notably X, formerly Twitter – have allowed disinformation to run rife. A tragedy is still unfolding in the Middle East. It is the duty of the international community, however fractured, to work together to limit the devastation.
