In Gaza, Palestine, war continues to rage between Israel and Hamas with catastrophic consequences for children and conscience.
On October 7,2023, Hamas militants broke into Israel from its Southern frontier, slaughtering hundreds and abducting hundreds more.
At the end of the operation, more than 1400 Israelis lay dead with about 200 abducted and taken into Gaza by the militants.
The attack which has generated an outpouring of support and sympathy the world over has provoked Israel into action. It was in furtherance of an age-old conflict between Israel and Palestine.
It has also provoked Israel into responding with a bombardment of Gaza which many fear is only preparatory to a ground invasion.
Israel has asked Palestinians living in the South of the Country to move to the North as it prepares to strike. That is about 1.1 Million people.
Following the attacks, many countries have harshly condemned Hamas for the killing of innocent people as it should be.
But it must be said that what has happened in Gaza for many years, well before this latest escalation, is the death of innocence.
For years, as the so-called two-state solution has failed to take hold, conflict and confrontation have become increasingly attractive but savagely costly options.
The cost can never really be quantified, but the 724 children killed so far in the latest escalation gives a glimpse of just how much has been lost.
Killing women and children may send a message of crushing might. But the terrible injustice would not be forgotten or forgiven in a hurry
Israel is striking Gaza hard. Hamas, the Palestinian Resistance Movement, is its target. But it is raining bombs on the entire strip, its message heavily punctuated by vengeance and powered by deterrence.
The October 7, Hamas attacked Israel. The attack has rightly been described as a pogrom. Children beheaded. Party goers mowed down. Octogenarians kidnapped.
Israel, a country where paranoia is official, was caught off guard, its sophisticated security apparatus rendered impotent by rebel fury.
In the aftermath of the attack, Israel has vowed to avenge the deaths. To deter further and future attacks.
It has continued to pound the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians, huddled together by an undying sense of justice.
The humanitarian toll has mounted. With hundreds killed, thousands injured or displaced, a humanitarian catastrophe is looming.
Fuel, food, and water have been caught off as Gazans prepare for the might of an enraged nation.
As these things have happened, the international community has recognized Israel’s right to defend itself, which is itself an ominous sight.
Yet, there is wide recognition that if Israel is left to feed its thirst for vengeance in the region, women and children will disproportionately suffer.
On Monday, October 17,2023, the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza was bombed. About 500 people were said to have died. Israel and Hamas have expectedly traded blame over the attack.
What is unfolding in the war is as expected. That women and children would become pawns in a conflict they know very little about was clear.
There is no gainsaying that a decades-long conflict has cost women, but especially children, disproportionately.
It begs the question of the essence of war. If innocence and innocents are the greatest casualties of war, why war, then? Why this one? Why Russia’s war in Ukraine? To what end is the terrible suffering of innocent people?
There is really no alternative to peace. That is why people should strive to live in peace everywhere. Every country should also speak the language of peace. Since women and children are the biggest casualties of conflict.
Israel has every right to defend itself. But that right must not be used wrongly. It should target Hamas and no more.
Every precaution must be taken to spare women and children. The most vulnerable must not be made victims.
The most insidious thing about war is that it does not discriminate. It claims the guilty as well as the innocent.
The urgency of peace must be emphasized to the warring parties. There is no other way.
With every child killed, anguish mounts. Anguish at the toll of war. But also at the terrible failure of diplomacy to distill an age-long dispute between Israel and Palestine.
A lasting solution most be found. Two cannot walk together unless they agree. Never has a failure to agree been more ruinous. Never has it been this murderous.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
