Israel set impossible goals in Gaza that do not bring lasting security. It can only be brought about by de-occupation through the political process, Stewart writes.
Timo R. Stewart researcher, non-fiction writer
Israelis are sometimes heard updating that the Arabs always start wars, but the international community does not allow Israel to finish them. As soon as Israel gets on top of the neck, we start demanding a ceasefire. This is how the attackers are saved and the seeds of a new war are sown.
A ceasefire has also been demanded in the Gaza war right from October since and several multiplier later too. However, the demands have had no consequences and the war has continued.
Those areas where the Hamas regime has been destroyed have simply been left to their own devices, to the mercy of chaos and hunger.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured aiming for “total victory”. Israel’s goals are the release of all hostages, the “total destruction of Hamas” and “ensuring that Gaza never again threatens Israel.”
It should have been obvious six months ago, that it is not possible to release the hostages by force of arms. As unpleasant as it is, sometimes you have to negotiate with terrorists.
The attack on Hamas forces was justified, but the “complete destruction” of the movement seems like wishful thinking after the brutal attack in October. The wish is understandable in itself. Hamas has been murdering Israeli civilians in buses and cafes for thirty years and has also terrorized Israel with its rockets.
It is also true that the Israeli army has Overwhelming superiority over the armed forces of Hamas. Significant losses have been inflicted on Hamas. It is very possible that Israel will be able to destroy the organization’s leadership, weapons depots and tunnel network.
In a conventional war between states and their armies, this would perhaps be enough. When Israel beat the Egyptian army for the fourth time in 1973, a peace agreement followed.
However, this is not an ordinary war between the armies of states. That is, for example, the kind that Israel last experienced 50 years ago, or that Russia is currently experiencing in Ukraine.
The Gaza war rather resembles those warswhich became familiar to colonial powers in Indonesia, Vietnam, Angola, Mozambique, Kenya, Algeria, Namibia and many other places.
In these conflicts, completely superior state armies won every battle, but were still unable to eradicate guerrilla warfare or terrorism from the local population.
In these “small wars” the opponent typically hides among the civilian population, receiving varying degrees of support and protection from it. Therefore, the treatment of civilians is also at the heart of the fight against paramilitary or irregular forces.
One approach has been population transfers or indiscriminate violence aimed at crushing resistance. Sometimes this has worked. Roman historian According to Tacitus the empire was criticized for “creating a desert and calling it peace”. This was not the whole truth for Rome, but today ethnic cleansing or genocide are not allowed, and that’s fine.
Another option has been counterinsurgency warfare, which combines violence and competition for the support of the local population. This was attempted under US leadership with varying degrees of success in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This population-centric approach has been completely abandoned in Gaza. Those areas where the Hamas regime has been destroyed have simply been left to their own devices, to the mercy of chaos and hunger. There has been no desire to talk about a political solution after the war.
However, it should be talked about, because there is no purely military solution to this crisis. Someone has to rule in Gaza and Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
What is needed is a permanent ceasefire, a vision for the better and a credible political process.
It is also delusional to imagine an ideological movement like Hamas completely destroyed in the ruins of Gaza. It is even more futile to think that the warning example of Gaza would make all Palestinians alike settle for a continuous military occupation and blockade.
Probably the most sustainable way to eliminate the Gaza threat to Israel is come to terms about the fate of all occupied Palestinian territories. Mass deaths of civilians, famine and the collapse of all order in Gaza do not help this. Every day that passes makes the job harder.
Periodic ceasefires are not enough either. What is needed is a permanent ceasefire, a vision for the better and a credible political process. It is also in Israel’s interest in the long run.
Timo R. Stewart
The author is a researcher of political history who is interested in the role of religion in politics and conflicts. So it’s no wonder that he drifted off to study the attitude towards the crises in the Middle East.