Hamas’ conviction is somewhat proven by the failure after failure of Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements and negotiations from the Oslo I Accord in 1993 to Camp David Accords in 2000, which was attempted again with peace talks in 2007 and 2010 but they also failed miserably. This fact is one of the reasons why Hamas is increasingly popular among the Palestinian people in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. From time to time, this organization has refined its methods of resistance and types of weapons used. From crude methods of stone-throwing and slingshots, now they have progressed to using grenades, mortars, landmines and even rockets and drones.
In the current conflict, Hamas used completely different tactics which deviated from the previous underground attacks through tunnels to enter Israeli territory. This can be seen in the use of ground and airborne attacks. While about 3,000 rockets were being fired into Israeli territory, Hamas fighters used motorized paragliders to fly across the Israel-Gaza southern border.
Once inside, they move quickly to secure ground, so that elite commando units could storm the walls and use explosives to breach the barriers, bulldoze them, and then performed assault on motorbikes. This surprise attack on the border resulted in massive casualties on the Israeli side, killing 44 soldiers, 21 military officers, including the commander of the Nahal Infantry Brigade, Col. Jonathan Steinberg, and the chief of the Israeli “Ghost” unit, Col. Roi Levy, while 150 Israeli soldiers were taken hostage.
In response to unprecedented attacks, Israeli troops launched missile strikes targeting buildings suspected of being used as Hamas command centers. The bombardment resulted in more than a thousand people being trapped under rubble. Israeli troops were even accused of using white phosphorus bombs, which are prohibited under the 1980 Geneva Convention because they are poisonous and can cause serious injuries and disabilities.
As the conflict intensified, around 250,000 residents of Gaza were forced to flee for their safety and sought protection in UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East)-run schools in the region. Israeli troops not only carried out massive attacks, but also imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, a policy implemented since 2007 whenever the conflict with Hamas escalated.
As a result, the supply of electricity, water, food, fuel and medicines ground to a halt. Israel’s siege of the Gaza area from sea, land and air is a form of genocidal policy, prompting WHO, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies to call for the opening of humanitarian corridors to bring in essential supplies.
In addition to a total blockade, the Netanyahu administration also gave an ultimatum to more than one million Palestinian civilians in Gaza to leave their homes in southern Gaza so they would be out of harm’s way when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an all-out ground invasion to destroy Hamas. This ultimatum was rejected by most Gaza residents, as well as Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the Middle East, because it was a blatant and brazen act of ethnic cleansing or genocide.
Moreover, if a total war in Gaza were actually carried out it would actually make it difficult for the Israeli government to release hundreds of hostages held by Hamas. Therefore, the most realistic and rational action to reduce the increasing number of casualties and damage on both sides is to immediately carry out a ceasefire facilitated by Qatar, Egypt, the UN, or the US itself which for almost three decades has been the sole mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution.
Responses from the US and its Western Allies
It is deeply regrettable that, in its response to the Israel-Hamas conflict, instead of trying to reduce tensions, the US government has made the situation even worse by issuing statements in defense of Israel, despite its long-running role as the sole mediator between the two warring sides. The Oslo Accords, signed in Washington, DC in 1993 managed to bring peace for the first time was and was widely held by the international community. This historic moment was immortalized through a handshake between the PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin, with US President Bill Clinton standing between them on the White House lawn.
The Oslo Accords paved way for further negotiations and agreements to be made between the two sides. However, the deadlock in negotiations in 2000 resulted in fresh conflict. In 2007, President George W. Bush tried to revive peace negotiations, but again encountering deadlock in 2010. Since then the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has stalled. During Trump administration (2016-20) there was no initiative taken to resume the process. The US even moved its embassy from Israel capital Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, stirring up political tension in the Middle East and causing controversy around the world.
At the beginning of Biden administration, the US attempted to resolve the conflict following the 11-day conflict between Hamas and Israel in May 2021, but the US stance was very contradictory. President Biden dispatched USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carriers along with advanced F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter jets to eastern Mediterranean waters, to demonstrate America’s commitment to Israel and its security.
The US response is considered very reactive and excessive, considering that the parties to the conflict are two very unequal powers. Hamas is only a fighting group with around 56,000 members and is only armed with rockets, grenades, mortars and other light weapons. Meanwhile, Israel, with 176,500 active servicemen and 450,000 military reservists, is armed with 300 nuclear warheads and a sophisticated Iron Dome aerial defense system, anti-ballistic missiles, hundreds of fighter planes, helicopters, warships and nuclear submarines.