The current state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

It has been a full week since Israel declared war on Palestine after the Hamas fighters suddenly invaded Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is said to be one of the world’s longest ongoing conflicts, as it began in the middle of the 20th century.

What is currently underway?

• Israel revealed that overnight it had attacked 750 military targets in the Gaza Strip, and 12 of these targets were high-rise buildings. 

• The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken stated that he was shown graphic visuals by the Israeli government, of people who lost their lives after the Hamas’ attack. The visuals included decapitated bodies of soldiers, young people with burns over their bodies, and a baby with bullet wounds.

• The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas criticises violence against civilians.

What are these two parties saying?

Palestine:

The Palestinian president condemns the violence against civilians, but it seems as though Hamas’ views are opposed to his.

Ali Baraka who is a senior official of the Hamas revealed shocking information during an interview with NPR. He said that the attack that was launched by Hamas on 7 October was a response to Israeli’s crimes against Palestinian civilians residing in Jerusalem and in the West Bank. He also stated that the attack was launched in order to break the Gaza Strip barrier and to free the thousands of Palestinians who were in Israeli prisons.

Baraka also revealed that they (Hamas)had been secretly planning the attack against Israel for two years.

"The zero hour was kept completely secret. A limited number of Hamas leaders knew about it. Those who knew about the attack and its timing could be counted on the fingers of one hand,” he said.

He also said, “The Israelis are known to love life. We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs. The thing any Palestinian desires most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land.”

Baraka also revealed that one of their allies was Iran.

“Our allies are those who support us with weapons and money. First of all, it is Iran that gives us money and weapons. There's also Hezbollah, and the Arab and Islamic people who are on our side,” Baraka stated.

Hamas has made it clear that as Palestine, they are willing to sacrifice themselves while defending Allah’s land, this implies that they will not back down.

Israel:

The Israeli army has ordered over 1 million Palestinians who live in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours. The United Nations opposes this and says that this mass relocation is a bad idea, and it may have disastrous consequences. 

Israel says they are currently preparing for a possible ground assault, and they stated that they have cut access to food, water, medication, and fuel in Gaza. They said they will continue to do this until Hamas freed their (Israel) hostages.

“Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be lifted, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” said Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz in a social media post.

Solution?

Even though there are no hopes for peace between Israel and Palestine, the believe is that Palestine and Israel could end the conflict by negotiating. These nations should start putting civilians first and consider the fact that the most vulnerable (children and women) suffer the most during these wars.

Another solution that most nations provide, is the two-state solution, which is a suggestion for the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The South African government is also in support of this solution.

Who do South Africans stand with?

Most South Africans have always supported Palestine and continue to stand with them. Demonstrations are also taking place in most parts of the country, with pro-Palestine South Africans gathering together carrying Palestinian flags. 

The South African national government and the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) also support Palestine and the reason for this is because they view it as being similar to South Africa’s fight against the Apartheid government.

The DA (Democratic Alliance) however, stands with Israel and in a recent statement stated that they condemned the “unprovoked attack” by Hamas against Israel.