As we mark one year since deadly attacks on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups and Israel’s disastrous military operation in Gaza, the Middle East is teetering on the brink of conflagration.
Israeli attack in Lebanon kills nearly 2,000 people, causes widespread destruction, threatens to trigger a larger war with Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on drawing the US into the war . President Joe Biden has the authority to de-escalate the situation and end the violence, but to this point he has refused to use Washington’s vast influence.
Over the past 12 months, Israeli forces have ravaged large parts of Gaza, killing more than 41,600 Palestinians in one of the deadliest and most destructive bombing campaigns in history.
Hunger and disease are widespread, and Israel uses hunger as a weapon against its population, restricting entry of food, water, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies. Approximately 90% of Gaza’s population has been forced to flee their homes, repeatedly fleeing for their lives, and subjected to endless bombings in areas that Israel ironically designates as “safe zones.” Israel has no universities left in the Gaza Strip, and nearly all hospitals have been bombed.
International law makes Israel’s human rights record clear
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to live in Gaza from 2005 to 2006, before and after Israel withdrew settlers from the Gaza Strip while maintaining military control.
I remember that time fondly and made many lifelong friends there. I also remember living under Israeli military closure and almost daily Israeli attacks. I remember not having drinking water or enough food due to the Israeli siege. I remember watching a friend’s relative die of cancer because they couldn’t get the treatment they needed outside of Gaza because Israel refused to let them leave.
In short, I remember what life was like in an open-air prison, cut off from the rest of the world.
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The world was already failing the people of Gaza then, and it is even more so today. No one can stop Israel from cutting Gaza off from the rest of the world, and today Israel is being allowed to violate international humanitarian law in visible ways before our eyes. Lift your finger and stop.
I think about my many friends in Gaza every day. They face three fates: be killed, become homeless, or be thrown outside Gaza. None of my friends remain in their homes in Gaza. Not a single person has had a close relative killed by Israel’s onslaught.
The International Court of Justice and the US federal court have both ruled that Israel is plausibly guilty of genocide in the Gaza Strip, and the former continues to gather facts.
In July, the International Court of Justice also ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which includes the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem for more than half a century, was illegal.
In fact, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, and prosecutors may expand the charges.
Arrest warrants were also sought for Hamas leaders.
Violence against Palestinians is nothing new and is not limited to Gaza.
Meanwhile, as the world’s attention focuses on Gaza, Israeli forces and settlers have launched large-scale violence and repression against Palestinians in the West Bank, killing more than 700 Palestinians in the past year. More than 1,600 Palestinians were killed. I’m being chased from my home.
In order to understand what is really happening and to accelerate concrete moves towards a future where Palestinians and Israelis live in peace and mutual security, it is important to view the events of the past year in historical context. It’s important.
Most Palestinians in Gaza are refugees whose families were expelled from their homeland when it became southern Israel in 1948. Since 1967, they have lived under a harsh Israeli military regime, with nearly every aspect of their lives controlled by Israel.
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Since 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians have lived under a stifling Israeli siege and naval blockade that the United Nations and rights groups condemn. Gaza residents have also endured regular Israeli shelling for decades, killing thousands of civilians even before last year’s massacre.
And for more than half a century, Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and 20% of the Israeli population have lived under a system of discriminatory oppression that leading human rights groups and legal experts describe as apartheid. It’s here.
Unless and until the root causes of the violence we have witnessed over the past year are resolved, Palestinians and Israelis are doomed to endless death and suffering.
President Biden has the power to end the violence in Lebanon and Gaza and put the region on the path to a more peaceful future. But instead of trying to ease tensions, despite mounting evidence that Israel is using weapons against the will of the majority of Americans, in violation of both U.S. and international law, , continues to flood Israel with weapons worth billions of dollars. Those who support a ceasefire and a halt to arms transfers to Israel as long as violence continues.
He did so even after acknowledging that Israel was carrying out “indiscriminate bombing” against civilians, giving Israel a clear green light to continue killing and destroying.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s failure to rein in the Israeli government and stop the bloodshed in Gaza emboldened Israel to expand its war into Lebanon, dragging Iran along and pushing the region to the dire precipice we face today. This pushed Iran to the brink of a direct confrontation between Iran and the United States. It would be disastrous for everyone involved.
Intervention by the United States and the international community is urgently needed to avoid further escalation into a full-scale regional conflict.
Decades of U.S. support for Israel paved the way for the situation we face today.
President Biden is Israel’s biggest supporter. He urges him to stop the violence in Lebanon and Gaza and move the region toward a more peaceful future by heeding experts’ calls to immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel and impose an immediate ceasefire to end the killings. It has the power to guide you on the path to. In Gaza and Lebanon, and for Israel to start respecting Palestinian human rights. He must act before the situation gets completely out of control, with unintended consequences for both the region and the United States.
Diana Buttu is a lawyer based in Haifa, Israel. She previously served as legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during peace negotiations with Israel.