[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Sinwar death brings no respite for Gazans

The killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar brought no respite for Palestinians in Gaza, as Israeli air strikes and shelling continued unabated in the territory already devastated by...

www.newagebd.net

Sinwar death brings no respite for Gazans
Agence France-Presse . Jerusalem 18 October, 2024, 22:25

A young Palestinian girl holds up a portrait of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a rally in Ramallah, in the occupied-West Bank on Friday. | AFP photo

The killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar brought no respite for Palestinians in Gaza, as Israeli air strikes and shelling continued unabated in the territory already devastated by more than a year of war.

Despite repeated vows that eliminating Sinwar was a key war aim for Israel, raids continued in the besieged enclave in the hours after Israel announced the death of the militant leader they have long accused of masterminding the October 7 attacks last year.

Following a strike at dawn, Gaza’s civil defence agency said rescuers recovered the bodies of three Palestinian children from the rubble of their home in the north of the territory.

‘We always thought that when this moment arrived the war would end and our lives would return to normal,’ Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, said.

‘But unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not stopped, and the killings continue unabated.’

Large swathes of northern Gaza remained under siege by Israeli forces, with road closures preventing the delivery of supplies to the area — despite warnings from the United States that failure to end the blockade could trigger a reduction in arms deliveries to Israel.

‘While we hear that delivery of aid will increase, people in Gaza are not feeling any difference,’ Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote on X.

‘They continue to be trapped, hungry and sick often under heavy bombardment.’

As news of the death of Sinwar sunk in, many in Gaza saw little reason for the Israeli army to press on with its war in the territory.

‘If Sinwar’s assassination was one of the objectives of this war, well, today they have killed Yahya Sinwar,’ said Mustafa Al-Zaeem, a 47-year-old resident from the Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City.

‘Enough death, enough hunger, enough siege. Enough thirst and starvation, enough bodies and blood.’

Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures that includes hostages killed in captivity.

Militants also took 251 people hostage during the attack. Ninety-seven remain in Gaza, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.

Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas and bring back the hostages has killed 42,500 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures which the UN considers reliable.

US president Joe Biden said on Friday he impressed on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a conversation to ‘also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas’.

Pressure has also been mounting in Israel to leverage the killing of Sinwar into a tangible plan to secure the release of the remaining hostages held captive in Gaza.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog and Netanyahu met on Friday to discuss the aftermath of Sinwar’s death, including the hostages.

A statement released by the presidency said that ‘a significant window of opportunity opened — including the promotion of the return of the hostages and the elimination of Hamas’.

Late Thursday, Netanyahu vowed that those who helped free the hostage in Gaza would be spared.

‘Whoever lays down his weapon and returns our hostages — we will allow him to go on living,’ he said.

But in Gaza, some remained sceptical over the fate of the hostages and what any deal would entail for their future.

‘Today, Israel is lost and will be searching for the hostages,’ said Zaeem.

Others saw little reason to trust Netanyahu and only feared more war.

‘What we see is that Netanyahu’s focus is on Gaza — on killing, destruction, and eradication, as the bombings and massacres continue across Gaza,’ said Mohammad Al-Omari, a 32-year-old from Al-Fakhura in northern Gaza.

‘What we fear most is the continuation of this cursed war.’​

 

[Saif]

Hamas mourns Sinwar, vows no hostage release

Hamas vowed on Friday it would not release the hostages it seized during its October 7 attack on Israel until the Gaza war ends, as it mourned the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

www.newagebd.net

Hamas mourns Sinwar, vows no hostage release
Agence France-Presse . Jerusalem 19 October, 2024, 00:55

A young Palestinian boy holds up a portrait of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a rally in Ramallah, in the Occupied-West Bank on Friday. | AFP photo

Hamas vowed on Friday it would not release the hostages it seized during its October 7 attack on Israel until the Gaza war ends, as it mourned the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

‘We mourn the great leader, the martyred brother, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim,’ Qatar-based Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said in a recorded video statement.

The hostages ‘will not return unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops, there is a complete withdrawal from it, and our heroic prisoners are released from the occupation’s prisons,’ he added.

Hamas’s confirmation of the death of Sinwar, the mastermind of the deadliest attack in Israeli history, came a day after Israel dealt a massive blow to the group with the announcement of his death.

Hamas sparked the year-long war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

During the attack, militants took 251 people hostage back into Gaza. Ninety-seven remain there, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.

Chief of Hamas in Gaza at the time of the attack, Sinwar became the militant group’s overall leader after the killing in July of its political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwar’s killing an ‘important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas’, adding that while it did not spell the end of the war, it was ‘the beginning of the end’.

In Gaza, there was little hope Sinwar’s killing would bring an end to the war.

‘We always thought that when this moment arrived the war would end and our lives would return to

normal,’ Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, said.

‘But unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not stopped, and the killings continue unabated.’

Israel conducted air strikes on Gaza on Friday, with several raids overnight and early morning pummelling the territory, according to an AFP journalist on the ground.

According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, rescuers recovered the bodies of three Palestinian children from the rubble of their home in the north of the territory after it was hit at dawn.

The Israeli military said it was pressing its operation in Jabalia, one of the focuses of the fighting in recent weeks, and where strikes on Thursday killed at least 14 people, according to two hospitals.

A UN-backed assessment has found some 3,45,000 Gazans face ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger this winter.

Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas and bring back the hostages seized by militants has killed 42,500 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures which the UN considers reliable.

With the civilian toll in Gaza mounting, Israel has faced criticism over its conduct of the war, including from the United States.

Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi vowed to keep fighting ‘until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and bring all the hostages home’.

Some Israelis hailed the news of Sinwar’s death as a sign of better things to come.

Attending a Tel Aviv rally demanding the hostages’ release, 60-year-old Sisil, who gave only her first name, said his killing presented a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ for ‘a hostage deal to end the war’.

US president Joe Biden, whose government is Israel’s top arms provider, said Sinwar’s death was a ‘moment of justice’ and ‘an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas’.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli government and international mediators to leverage ‘this major achievement to secure hostages’ return’.

According to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, Biden called to congratulate him on Sinwar’s killing, with the two leaders vowing to seize ‘an opportunity to promote the release of the hostages’.

With Hamas already weakened more than a year into the Gaza war, Sinwar’s death deals an immense blow to the organisation, but whether it will trigger a shift in its own strategy is unclear.

It is also unclear whether his successor will be named in Qatar, where Hamas’s political leadership has long been based, or in Gaza, the focus of the fighting.

The Israeli military said Sinwar was killed in a firefight in southern Gaza’s Rafah, near the Egyptian border, while being tracked by a drone.

It released drone footage of what it said was Sinwar’s final moments, with the video showing a wounded militant throwing an object at the drone.

Israel is also fighting a war in Lebanon, where Hamas ally Hezbollah opened a front by launching cross-border strikes that forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.

Hezbollah said Thursday it was launching a new phase in its war against Israel, and that it had used precision-guided missiles against troops for the first time.

The war since late September has left at least 1,418 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

The Israeli military has announced the deaths of 19 soldiers in combat in southern Lebanon.

The war has also drawn in other Iran-aligned armed groups, including in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

Iran on October 1 conducted a missile strike on Israel, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said Sinwar will remain an inspiration for militants fighting Israel across the region.

‘His fate — beautifully pictured in his last image — is not a deterrent but a source of inspiration for resistance fighters across the region, Palestinian and non-Palestinian,’ Araghchi said on X.

Hezbollah and Yemen’s Huthi rebels both mourned the death of Sinwar, vowing continued support for their Palestinian ally Hamas.​

 

[Saif]

UN expert accuses West of gagging speech over Gaza

Protest crackdowns, banned marches, media workers at risk -- a UN expert on Friday accused Western nations and Israel of freedom of speech violations in the year since the Gaza war broke out.

www.newagebd.net

UN expert accuses West of gagging speech over Gaza
Agence France-Presse . United Nations 19 October, 2024, 22:44

Protest crackdowns, banned marches, media workers at risk -- a UN expert on Friday accused Western nations and Israel of freedom of speech violations in the year since the Gaza war broke out.

‘No conflict in recent times has threatened freedom of expression so seriously or so far beyond its borders than Gaza,’ UN special rapporteur Irene Khan told reporters as she presented her report, ‘Global threats to freedom of expression arising from the conflict in Gaza.’

The Bangladeshi human rights lawyer, who has been the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression since 2020, notably cited crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests in Western democracies in the early months of the war.

On US university campuses, protests were ‘harshly’ repressed, she said, alluding to the use of riot police to dislodge encampments.

In Europe, she noted that Germany had imposed a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations last October, with some restrictions still in place on such protests in various Germans regions, but ‘never on any pro-Israeli’ rallies.

‘There have been all sorts of other restrictions also made in terms of slogans or scarves and so on,’ she said.

France attempted a similar blanket ban last year but was stymied by courts, and now makes assessments on a case-by-case basis, she said, noting Belgium and Canada have similar approaches.

She also pointed to ‘targeted assassinations of journalists’ in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

‘We all know the deliberate killing of a journalist is a war crime,’ she said, lamenting the ‘impunity’ with which such deaths have been met in the recent conflict and years prior.

The killing of journalists, destruction of press facilities, denying access to international media, banning Al Jazeera, and other actions by Israel, ‘seem to indicate the strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct documentation of possible international crimes,’ she said.

Hamas sparked the war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

During the attack, militants took 251 hostages back into Gaza. Ninety-seven remain there, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.

Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas and bring back the hostages has killed 42,500 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures which the UN considers reliable.​

 

[Saif]

Israel drops leaflets over Gaza showing Sinwar's body and message to Hamas

Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza on Saturday showing a picture of the dead Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar with the message that "Hamas will no longer rule Gaza", echoing language used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The move came as Israeli military strikes killed at leas

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israel drops leaflets over Gaza showing Sinwar's body and message to Hamas
REUTERS
Published :
Oct 19, 2024 22:32
Updated :
Oct 19, 2024 22:32

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Al Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, October 19, 2024. Photo : REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza on Saturday showing a picture of the dead Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar with the message that "Hamas will no longer rule Gaza", echoing language used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The move came as Israeli military strikes killed at least 32 people across the Gaza Strip and tightened a siege around hospitals in Jabalia in the north of the enclave, Palestinian health officials said.

“Whoever drops the weapon and hands over the hostages will be allowed to leave and live in peace," the leaflet, written in Arabic, read, according to residents of the southern city of Khan Younis and images circulating online.

The leaflet's wording was from a statement by Netanyahu on Thursday after Sinwar was killed by Israeli soldiers operating in Rafah, in the south near the Egyptian border, on Wednesday.

The Oct 7 attack Sinwar planned on Israeli communities a year ago killed around 1,200 people, with another 253 dragged back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent war has devastated Gaza, killing more than 42,500 Palestinians, with another 10,000 uncounted dead thought to lie under the rubble, Gaza health authorities say.

In the central Gaza Strip camp of Al-Maghzai, an Israeli strike on a house killed 11 people, while another strike at the nearby camp of Nuseirat killed four others.

Five other people were killed in two separate strikes in the south Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, medics said, while seven Palestinians were killed in the Shati camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

Late on Friday, medics said 33 people, mostly women and children, were killed and 85 others were wounded in Israeli strikes that destroyed at least three houses in Jabalia.

The Israeli military said it was unaware of that incident.

It said forces were continuing operations against Hamas across the enclave, killing several gunmen in Rafah and Jabalia and dismantling military infrastructure. Palestinian medics said five people were killed in Jabalia on Saturday.

EVACUATION ORDERS

Residents and medics said Israeli forces had tightened their siege on Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's eight historic camps, which it encircled by also sending tanks to nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and issuing evacuation orders to residents.

Israeli officials said evacuation orders were aimed at separating Hamas fighters from civilians and denied that there was any systematic plan to clear civilians out of Jabalia or other northern areas.

Residents and medical officials said Israeli forces were bombing houses and besieging hospitals, preventing medical and food supplies from entering to force them to leave the camp.

Health officials said they refused orders by the Israeli army to evacuate the hospital or leave the patients, many in a critical condition, unattended.

"The Israeli occupation is intensifying its targeting of the health system in the northern Gaza Strip, by besieging and directly targeting the Indonesian Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and Al-Awda Hospital during the past hours and its insistence on putting them out of service," the Gaza health ministry said.

It said two patients in intensive care at the Indonesian Hospital died "as a result of the hospital's siege and the power outage and medical supplies".

Israel's military said the troops operating in the area had been "briefed on the importance of mitigating harm to civilians and medical infrastructure".

"It is emphasized that the hospital continues to operate without disruption and in full capacity, and there was no intentional fire directed at it," it said.​

 

[Saif]

At least 73 killed in Israel strike in Gaza

An Israeli air strike on a residential area killed at least 73 Palestinians in Beit Lahia in the territory's north. Israel said it struck a "Hamas terror target".

en.prothomalo.com

At least 73 killed in Israel strike in Gaza
AFP
Gaza Strip, Palestine
Published: 20 Oct 2024, 09: 03

Displaced Palestinians, ordered by the Israeli army to leave the school in Beit Lahia where they were sheltered, arrive in Gaza City on 19 October, 2024. AFP

Gaza's civil defence agency said Sunday that an Israeli air strike on a residential area killed at least 73 Palestinians in Beit Lahia in the territory's north. Israel said it struck a "Hamas terror target".

"Our civil defence crews recovered 73 martyrs and a large number of wounded as a result of the Israeli air force targeting a residential area... in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza," Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency told AFP.

"There are still martyrs under the rubble," he added.

Bassal said residences of several families had been hit in the strike, which happened late on Saturday.

Gaza government media office confirmed the toll, saying the dead included women and children as the strike had hit a "densely populated residential area".

Israel's military disputed the toll figure given by Gaza authorities.

It said its initial examination indicated that the numbers "do not align with the information held by the IDF (army), the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike on a Hamas terror target".

It did not offer other details as to who the target of the strike was.

Israel, vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in northern Gaza, launched a major air and ground assault on October 6, tightening its siege on the war-battered area and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing.

Prior to the latest strike, the operation had already killed more than 400 people in north Gaza, Bassal told AFP earlier on Saturday.​

 

[Saif]

WHO to evacuate 1,000 Gazan women, children

Up to 1,000 women and children needing medical care will shortly be evacuated from Gaza to Europe, the head of the World Health Organization’s Europe branch said in comments published yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

WHO to evacuate 1,000 Gazan women, children

Up to 1,000 women and children needing medical care will shortly be evacuated from Gaza to Europe, the head of the World Health Organization's Europe branch said in comments published yesterday.

Israel, which is besieging the war-devastated Palestinian territory, "is committed to 1,000 more medical evacuations within the next months to the European Union," Hans Kluge said in an interview with AFP.

He said the evacuations would be facilitated by the WHO -- the United Nations' health agency -- and the European countries involved.

On Thursday, UN investigators said Israel was deliberately targeting health facilities in Gaza, and killing and torturing medical personnel there, accusing the country of "crimes against humanity".

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in May that around 10,000 people needed evacuating from Gaza for urgent medical care.

The WHO Europe has already facilitated 600 medical evacuations from Gaza to seven European countries since the latest war began there in October 2023.

"This would never have happened if we did not keep the dialogue (open)," Kluge said.

"The same (is true) for Ukraine," he added. "I keep the dialogue (open) with all partners.

"Now, 15,000 HIV-AIDS patients in Donbas, the occupied territories (of Ukraine), are getting HIV-AIDS medications," the 55-year-old Belgian said in English, stressing the importance of "not politicising health".

"The most important medicine is peace," he said, noting that healthcare workers had to be allowed to do their jobs in conflict zones.

'OUTRAGE EVERY TIME'

Around 2,000 attacks have been registered on health centres in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, according to the WHO

"There may be a kind of acceptance almost but this should cause outrage every single time," he said.

"We will always continue to condemn this in the strongest possible terms."

Kluge expressed concern ahead of Ukraine's third winter of war.

"Eighty percent of the civilian energy grid is damaged or destroyed. We saw it in the hospitals, surgeons operating with a lamp on their heads," he said.

"It will be a very, very tough" winter.

Despite strains on Europe's healthcare systems, he said the 53 countries that make up the WHO European region -- which includes central Asian countries -- were able to come together to prepare for future pandemics.

"In Europe, we did our homework," he said.

GLOBAL PANDEMIC TREATY?

"What we need is a pandemic treaty globally, because even if we do our share, we're never going to stop bugs entering our continent."

A European strategy for pandemics is due to be presented on October 31.

At the same time, the WHO is urging its members to "manage and prepare for the next crisis, while ensuring continuation of essential basic health services" in order to avoid another "rupture" like that which occurred during the Covid pandemic.

Ensuring the security of national health care systems is crucial and should be a priority, he said.

"A minimum of 25 out of 53 countries during the past five years had at least one big health emergency event big enough to test the country's security," he said.

The pandemic has left its mark on Europeans, which Kluge hopes to erase during his next mandate.

"The Covid-19 pandemic set us back two years on non-communicable diseases," he said, requiring countries to double down on diagnosing and treating multidrug resistant tuberculosis, testing for uterus and cervical cancer, and vaccinations.

In addition, Kluge said he also wanted to address worrying trends, such as the health of young people and growing inequalities between men and women.

"It's very clear. We see that the lockdowns during Covid-19 led to a 25-percent increase in anxiety and depression orders," he lamented.

"Twenty-six percent of the women between 15 and 49 years in my region report, at least one time in their lifetime experienced intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence," he said.

Kluge has headed the WHO Europe since February 2020 and is expected to be re-elected at the end of October.​

 

[Saif]

Israel’s genocide in Gaza must end

How many more lives will Israel and its military take before they finally feel “safe” within their fortified borders?

www.thedailystar.net

Israel’s genocide in Gaza must end
World must come together to force a ceasefire agreement

VISUAL: STAR

It has been more than a year since the start of Israel's genocide in Gaza which has so far led to the loss of over 42,600 lives, 40 percent of whom are children. At this point, we are at a loss for words to express our condemnation of Israel's destructive activities, which continue unabated. On Saturday night, at least 87 people were killed or went missing under the debris after an Israeli air attack in Beit Lahiya of northern Gaza levelled several buildings.

While Israel, in line with its continued war rhetoric, justified the killing by calling the strike "a precision attack" on a Hamas target, video footage shared by Al Jazeera and Palestinian authorities shows dead bodies as well as injured children being pulled out of the rubble by rescuers. A resident of the area told the BBC that the neighbourhood Israel bombed was mainly home to civilians and displaced families who had fled other high-risk zones in Gaza, hoping it would be safer. But safety anywhere in Gaza is elusive these days. Even aid workers and peacekeepers have not been spared by Israeli offensives. The question is: how many more lives will Israel and its military take before they finally feel "safe" within their fortified borders?

For Israel, even the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar or Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was not enough. Ironically, by releasing the video of Sinwar's murder by an Israeli drone, the brutish state appears to have made the Palestinian resistance stronger. But then, which oppressor in the world could silence people's demand for justice and freedom by genocidal acts? What does Israel then wish to achieve in the long run? Its military's recent bombing in Lebanon and Netanyahu's phone conversation with former US President Donald Trump on Saturday indicate that it has no intention of reining in its killing spree targeting Palestinians or civilians of any neighbouring state that backs Hamas. Sadly, even the US policy of denying Israel's genocide in Gaza is unlikely to change, even if there is a new US administration after the elections.

Under such circumstances, we can only hope that nations that still have a conscience would finally come together to condemn Israel's genocidal acts and ensure that Israel agrees to a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and Lebanon without any further delay. The genocide must end.​

 

[Saif]

A year of genocide in Gaza

A year has passed since the war of genocide in Gaza was unleashed by Israel. It has taken a toll of 42,350 lives to date, more than 50 per cent of which are those of women and children. According to UNICEF, the number of children dead in Gaza exceed that in any armed conflict in recorded history. O

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

A year of genocide in Gaza
Hasnat Abdul Hye
Published :
Oct 22, 2024 21:51
Updated :
Oct 22, 2024 21:51

A year has passed since the war of genocide in Gaza was unleashed by Israel. It has taken a toll of 42,350 lives to date, more than 50 per cent of which are those of women and children. According to UNICEF, the number of children dead in Gaza exceed that in any armed conflict in recorded history. Out of 32 hospitals in Gaza not a single exists with their former facilities for treatment of critically ill patients and the growing number of injured. Hundreds of doctors, nurses and medical assistants have either been killed in indiscriminate bombardments or taken as detainees by Israeli army. 70 per cent of buildings and infrastructures have been totally destroyed by bombs and artillery shells leaving the rest in conditions not fit for habitation. Industries, farmlands and shops selling sundry items, including bread and medicines, have been razed to the ground, stopping production of food and other items of daily necessities. Water supply through pipes, electricity generated in power plants and sewerage systems disposing of effluents have been bombed out of existence. Roads and parks in every towns and highways connecting them have deliberately been bulldozed rendering unfit for vehicular traffic.

All the acts of killings and destructions have the unmistakable imprimatur of one goal: genocide of the people of Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is yet give a verdict on this but the world community represented by conscientious men and women have already condemned this war crime through regular street demonstrations in cities and towns across the globe. Political leaders in America and Europe have regretted the loss of civilian life but have refrained from banning arms delivery to Israel and taking meaningful diplomatic steps to force Israel to stop the carnage. On the contrary, every statement made on the war in Gaza by so called 'world leaders' is prefaced by the condemnation of the killing by Hamas on October 7 in 2023 and the affirmation that 'Israel has the right to defend itself'. There is hypocrisy and irony in this apparent moral stance. Hypocrisy because it ignores the context of Israel's continued occupation of Palestine land and their brutal suppression of the Palestinians, including frequent killings on slight pretexts that provoked the incursion by Hamas on October 7. Irony in the mention of 'right to defend' lies in the fact of Israel being one of the formidable military power with regular arms supply from the West, on the basis of which its capacity to defend itself is beyond question. So, in this context, invoking 'the right to defend' is tantamount to giving it green signal to commit acts of aggression against the Palestinians. But for this moral, political and military support, Israel would have thought twice before unleashing the genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza and later in the West Bank.

The West, the champion of democracy and human rights, lost no time to express its moral indignation and political condemnation at the killing of some 1,200 Israelis by Hamas. But deaths of over 42,000 Palestinians have not evoked much criticism, not to speak of condemnation from Western leaders. If America and European countries believed that all lives are equal they would have not only condemned the wanton killings of innocent civilians in Gaza but would have taken drastic steps to stop the carnage. In the event, except mild reminders that Israel should abide by humanitarian rules in conducting the war in Gaza, nothing substantive and meaningful has been said or done by the West to hold Israel under leash. The attitude and policy of quiet support of Israel in what it is doing in Gaza can only be explained by one theory, that Israel has been conducting a civilisational war on behalf of the West. In fact, right at the beginning Netanyahu, the bloodthirsty prime minister of Israel, openly and repeatedly harped on this theme. Those who have read Samuel Huntington's thesis on clash of civilisations know that Judeo- Christian civilisation has been shown as a distinct category, pitted against other civilisation, particularly Islam. Policy makers in America and Europe accepted this thesis after September 11, 2001, bombing by Al Quaeda in America. The 'war against terrorism' has since then become an integral part of the security policy of governments in Western countries. It is no wonder that they consider the war conducted by Israel in Gaza as a continuation of their policy of war against terror. If the collateral damage of this war in Gaza in terms of civilian lives is high, it cannot be helped, the Western leaders must have concluded.

As a corollary to the 'war on terror', decapitating the 'terror' organisations by killing their leaders has received top priority in the strategy adopted. To defeat the Al Qaeda it thus became essential to assassinate its chief, Osama bin Laden. This strategy stood vindicated when the movement died down after the killing of Osama in Islamabad by American Navy Seals in a night operation. Following this evidence, assassinating the Hamas chief Ismael Haniyeh and its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar assumed top priority. Israel's intelligence network kept a tab on the movement of Haniyeh as he moved around countries for negotiations and consultations. With the help of up to date information, Israel succeeded in eliminating its 'high value' target, killing Ismael Haniyeh in Tehran. But killing Yahya Sinwar proved more difficult as he remained a phantom figure, living in tunnels and in the maze of half destroyed buildings in Gaza. On 18 October Israel Defence Force (IDF) in Rafa almost stumbled upon him as he was walking on the side street with two Hamas fighters. When challenged, Sinwar and his companions engaged in a fire-fight but was overpowered by superior force of IDF, aided by a drone.

After the killing of Yahya Sinwar, Netanyahu gloated over decapitating Hamas and called upon Palestinians to welcome the event as Sinwar had caused so much pain and hardships for them. Western leaders, from America to European capitals, welcomed the situation created by the death of Yahya Sinwar and expressed their optimism about the end of the war now that Hamas had lost its two leaders. The fallacy in this expectation can be traced to the failure in distinguishing between terror organisations like Al Qaeda and freedom fighters represented by Hamas. While the former has only a negative goal of taking revenge based on hatred, the latter fights a guerrilla war for something more tangible, like winning freedom from alien occupation and gaining independence with a homeland. Unlike terrorists, the freedom fighters don't depend on centralised leadership of a few and as such can never be 'decapitated'. Prepared for regular attrition in top leaders, new leaders emerge to fill any vacuum. So, Hamas can be expected to have a new leader to carry on their guerrilla war against Israel just as Hezbulla in Lebanon has found a new leader after the assassination of Nasrullah.

As regards the Palestinians in Gaza, they have not yet turned against Hamas and they never will. To them, they are heroes who are fighting for their freedom and dignity. They are not likely to welcome the death of Yahya Sinwar because they know he laid down his life upholding Palestinian cause. One must appreciate the courage and fortitude of ordinary Palestinians who have withstood the most brutal onslaught by Israel, killing them by hundreds every day over the past year, forcing them to live without food water and medicine. Not a single Palestinian tried to escape to safety climbing the wall to Sinai in Egypt or taking a boat to flee by sea. Defying death and destruction, they have clung to their soil defying Israel's, policy of ethnic cleansing. The demonstration of such resistance by civilians treated like animals by a cynical enemy is unparalleled.

The war on terror may succeed when terrorists have no cause, other than giving vent to blind rage and deep hatred. Hamas has rage and hatred for the oppressor, too. But they are not consumed by this exclusively. They have a cause, which is freeing Palestine from Israeli occupation and let their people live in freedom and dignity. They are so committed to this that they did not flee to safe havens when IDF came with their overwhelming firepower marauding Gaza. They have kept one of the mightiest military pinned down for over one year, inflicting casualties. They are determined to go on fighting until a ceasefire is agreed to by Israel. Surrender is not a word in their dictionary.

Netanyahu and his Western allies do not realise that Hamas cannot be eliminated because the genocidal war in Gaza unleashed by Israel has turned each and every Palestinians into a Hamas. The idea that Hamas represents is invincible and will burn brightly in every mind of Palestinian as long as they are under Israeli occupation.​