Thousands of rockets, falling from the sky, blasting buildings, killing hundreds, and injuring thousands, this unfolding nightmare is the reality of people living in Israel and Gaza. A ceasefire forced in the early hours of Friday morning has brought new hope for the resident. But What started the Israel-Palestine crisis in the first place? Who is responsible for the current situation? And what lies in the way ahead?
Israel-Palestine Crisis: The Begining
Symbols are powerful, they can untie people of the same faith, but they can also transform them into an impulsive mob. Sometimes, these symbols get attached to cities that are considered sacred. Some cities wash away sins, and some serve as a headquarter of a religion. But no city in the history of the world has played a more critical role in the history of religion than Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is the most sacred place for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Contrary to its name, the city of peace has been the epicenter of various conflicts throughout history. It has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, fought over 16 times, attacked 52 times, and traded hands on many more occasions. Israel and Palestine have a long rival history, but the current clutter between both the rival has been boiling for years on this scarred land. The simmering tension started burning in mid-April, during the holy month of Ramadan. The Israeli police barricaded the north side of Jerusalem, the Damascus Gate, which homes Al-Aqsa mosque, where most Palestinian Muslim residents gather after evening prayer.
The barricading raged Palestinian, and they descended near the mosque to protest. In the protest, dozens of people and security personnel were injured. The security forces used water cannons and stun grenades to control the mob, which was hurling firecracker and stones. The clashes then got aggressive on the sacred ground. The tensions around the third holiest Islamic shrine invited Hamas’s attention, as thus the violence has been skyrocketing between both countries.
What Is Happening In The Current Clutter?
The game that has been played on Israel and Gaza’s sky right now has polarised the world into two parts, one supporting Israel while the other Palestine. Politics, geography, history, religion, ideology, and a lot more are mixed up into the current crisis, which shivers not only the middle east but also the entire world.
Hamas, a Palestinian extremist organization now a political party, represents the Palestinians and rules over the Gaza strip, a part of Palestine. Though Hamas does not have an army, it has an extreme militant wing, and this militant group has been firing rockets over Israel in the last 11-day clutter.
In defense, Israel has been using its Iron Dome, the world’s sharpest short-range missile defense system. Though Hamas has fired thousands of rockets on Israel to date, but the country’s impeccable defense system succeeds in preventing most of them, thus limiting the death toll to a small number.
Hamas knows the technological superiority of Israel; the main focus of their rocket doesn’t seem to be injuring the army but increasing the cost for Israel, as the sophisticated defense technology cost hundreds of times more than every rocket fired by HAMAS. Secondly, the militia group/political party is trying to overwhelm the country’s defense system.
In Gaza, health officials have confirmed that over 232 Palestinians have lost their lives in the clashes, while 12 people have died in Israel. After 11-days of bloodshed, both sides have agreed to a cease-fire. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have confirmed the time of ceasefire at 2:00 am but Isreal is yet to make any announcement on the time. To the ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “Israeli and Palestinian leaders had a responsibility beyond the restoration of calm to address the root causes of the conflict.”
Israel-Palestine Crisis: Who Is Wrong?
Who is wrong and who is right is not our decision to make, but violence in response to violence, and even more violence to its response never improve any situation. It worsens the problem exponentially. Secondly, more than 250 people on both sides have lost their lives, including about 65 children. But, the unfortunate reality is that the extremist population living in Palestine and Israel do not see the dying and injuring people as human. They can only see terrorists in every face. Israelis consider the Palestinians terrorist, and so do Palestinians.
The politicians and militants groups have instigated so much hate on both sides that both groups cannot treat each other with compassion and respect and behave like sworn enemies. This is why they keep justifying one act of violence after the other. It needs to be understood that all the Palestinians do not support HAMAS, same as all the Israelis do not support the violent action of the Israeli government.
There have been a few politicians who have tried to maintain as much peace as possible, and all of them were assassinated by right-wing extremists. The significant population of extremist people often overpower the peace-loving population and term their entire country as terrorists. A country is not its government.
Furthermore, competing with Israel’s military technology, defense system, and agencies like Mossad, especially by small groups like HAMAS, is next to impossible. Being one of the most potent military power, Israel’s responsibility also enhances. Israel has enough technological superiority that they should take precautions while targeting the terrorist groups. The airstrikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds of civilians and children are strongly condemned by international governments. Such actions are unjustifiable, mainly when carried out by one of the strongest military power.
Hopefully, the ceasefire between both the countries will provide leaders on both sides to rethink their decision, and a reliving peace process will take the Israel-Palestine crisis back to normal.
