In 1936, Winston Churchill commented on the Palestine problem to the Peel Commission, a British Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by Lord Peel which was appointed to investigate the causes of unrest in British Mandate for Palestine that set the attitude of Israeli leaders to the Palestine. Churchill said: “I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time.”
It seems that the conflict with a view to establishing the final right over the land of Palestine is going to see an end. Palestinians of Gaza have been asked by the Israeli authority to flee their homes to save lives as there was going to be continued deadly air strikes in the Gaza strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We don’t know when the operation will end. It might take a long time.”
Every day, the Israeli air force drops leaflets warning the residents to evacuate their homes in the areas ahead of fresh airstrikes. On the following day, they blow up almost every sign of civilisation in that area. Every day Palestinians have to abandon their houses and take shelter somewhere else. Almost 17,000 Palestinians of Beit Lahiya had to flee for their lives and take refuge in UN-run schools of Palestine.
There is no safe place in Gaza now. Last Wednesday, Israeli Air Force operated an air assault on the beach of the Gaza city leaving four children dead. Warplanes during that night struck about 40 sites across Gaza. According to news reports, at least 230 people have been killed since the punishing air strikes had begun in Gaza. On the other hand, Hamas kept firing aimless rockets making things worse.
According to the recent developments, the Israeli military dropped flyers and sent text messages warning 100,000 people in northeastern Gaza to evacuate their homes ahead of an air campaign targeting terrorists in that area. Already the Palestinians with foreign passports began leaving Gaza through the Erez border crossing.
A formidable number of Palestinians reside in the Gaza strip since the Oslo I Accord that let the Palestine Liberation Organisation to form a self-interim government to govern the territories in Palestine that remain under its control. As the Oslo I Accord also called for the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Palestinians started living in large numbers in Gaza strip, compared to the other areas of Palestine since then. Gaza strip is considered as one of the most populated regions in the world.
News agencies have confirmed that at least 43,000 Israeli troops have been mobilised at the border of Gaza. Another 8,000 are yet to join them. It is being considered as a signal of wider ground offensive. It appears that the Israeli government of Netanyahu is determined to eradicate the establishments of Palestinians in the densely populated Gaza strip this time forever.
It looks like Israel is ready to launch ground offensives in the Gaza strip, and eventually will compel the Palestinians to leave their land of Palestine. Apparently, the final push to capture the entire territory beside the Golan Heights, as well the lands surrounded by Israeli settlers near the Egypt border, seems to be on its way.
The so-called punishment by Israelis upon the Palestinian population did not come all on a sudden. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine since 2005, asked Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister, to form a “government of national consensus.” Fatah conceded a shocking defeat in the 2006 parliamentary election to Hamas and lost its control over the legislative council that prolonged the conflict between Hamas and Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas, also a Fatah leader, to end this conflict on April 23 signed an agreement with Hamas. The agreement was a roadmap to presidential and parliamentary elections in the territories controlled by Hamas and Fatah.
These initiatives gave hope to the Palestinians for a stronger than ever administration for the state of Palestine. Even the European Union that provides substantial aid to the Palestinian authority, welcomed the agreement and declared to continue its support to the new government.
On the other hand, the chance of the formation of a stronger government in Palestine created further headache for the Israeli authority. Israel and their committed ally the US vehemently opposed the reconciliation process. Prime Minister Netanyahu opined that the tie will strengthen nothing but terror. Obama condemned Mahmoud Abbas for the “unhelpful” step of trying to form a unity government with Hamas.
Netanyahu, on April 24, eventually suspended the US brokered peace talks with Palestinian authority that formed an alliance with Hamas which he called “a terrorist organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel” – and hinted at further retaliatory measures.
The retaliation of Israel came in action after the alleged killing of three Israeli teenagers – Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah – who were kidnapped before the killing. Though Israel accused Hamas for this killing, many contradict with their story.
In Palestine, according to the election results, the Gaza strip is the stronghold of Hamas, while Fatah is more popular than Hamas in West Bank. It is easier for Hamas to operate its operation in the places adjacent to Gaza, rather than in the West Bank. But both the kidnapping and the recovery of the bodies took place in the West Bank.
In addition, if Hamas had abducted them, they would have confirmed their affiliation with the crime as a success, and come with some demands like freeing political prisoners or withdrawing troops from Gaza. Surprisingly, Hamas did not come with any demands after the abduction. They denied the allegation of kidnapping the teenagers by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who blamed Hamas for the heinous crime.
There are reasons to believe that before any proper investigation, the incident was either being used politically to teach a good lesson to the Palestinian authority as well the Palestinians, or to launch the final push to drive away all the Palestinians from their land. In case of the latter, Israeli authority is going to stage another Dreyfus Affair, a symbol of injustice, for which the idea of creating a national home for the Jewish population came in the mind of Theodor Herzl.
Forcing the Palestinians to evacuate their homeland will not only add fuel to the flame of the Palestinian movement to get back their homeland, but will also make the militant organisations like Hamas, ISIL, or Boko Haram more powerful. They will keep fighting for their houses, their olive trees, and for their families.
It took thousands of years to find a land for the Israelis to reside in. Someday, maybe after decades of bloodshed and cruelty, Palestinians will win the land causing death to millions of children, women, and innocent people who had nothing to do with the conflict for the final right.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
