Synopsis of Israel-Palestine Conflict and its Far-flung Consequences

Following the ceasefire between Israel and Palestine-based militant group- Hamas, mediated by Egypt, in international pressure, 11 days long conflict has desisted.

However, it has wreaked havoc the Gaza at large and Israeli aggression has resulted in immense devastations and far-flung consequences not only in Gaza but also in the entire Palestine.

Here questions pop up: How the conflict has erupted? What are the rationales behind its eruption? What can be its far-flung consequences? What has empowered Israel to occupy Palestinian land perpetually?

As far as the current conflict is concerned, it had erupted when in the Holy month of Ramadan, Israeli police prevented Palestinians from gathering in East Jerusalem. In a sequel of police storming to a compound that houses the Al-Aqsa mosque, protest erupted.

The reaction by the Israeli police to the protest triggered the 11 days long violence against Palestinians. Besides this, the eviction of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah, an Arab-majority neighborhood, is being deemed as another reason behind the conflict.

Since the eviction is not new in occupied territories of Palestine, it roots in history. In 1967, Palestinians had also been evicted. Regretfully, Israeli law does not allow Palestinians to reclaim their homes. 

Moreover, some Israeli lawmakers claim that the standoff had been triggered to forefend Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister since he is under charges of corruption and they avouched that Netanyahu could have been toppled had the war in Gaza not commenced.

This observation of lawmakers has also been endorsed by Wall Street Journal. This operation, according to lawmakers, can prop up Netanyahu to remain in power.

Additionally, Noam Chomsky had enunciated the deplorable condition of Palestinians as: ”You take my water, burn my olive trees, destroy my house, take my job, steal my land, imprison my father, kill my mother, bombard my country, starve us all, humiliate us all but I am to blame: I shot a rocket back.” 

These words had been articulated before the current conflict but words correspond to this conflict. In this systematic genocide of Palestinians, water has been controlled by Israel; approximately 1,174 homes have been destroyed and 7,073 homes have been blemished; 57 health centers and schools have been vitiated; 33 media outlet centers and Al Jazeera news center have been devastated; 8 mosques have been decimated; 29 mosques and 1 church have been partially harmed; 5 cemeteries have been bombarded; more than 50,000 Palestinian in Gaza have been forced to evacuate; lands have been embezzled by real estate agents of Israel; about 232 Palestinians- including 67 children and more than 40 women, pregnant as well, journalists and doctors have been bumped off; more than 1615 attacks have been made since May 10 with warplanes, artillery, and warships; an outsize number of Palestinians have been starved; energy supply has been cut, the only light that was found was of explosions; the only covid-19 testing lab has been crippled. Currently, already overwhelmed Palestinian hospitals have to fight on two fronts: one is covid-19 and the other one is injuries and wounded Palestinians.

The conflict has originated far-flung consequences: psychological and economic.

Psychologically, aggressive policies driven by the Israeli military systematically expose Palestinians to chronic trauma and a vicious cycle of oppression has caused immense pain to them, according to Esra Oras, one of Turkey’s prominent Psychologists.

She verbalized that the trauma triggers an adrenaline rush, which directs the body to fight or run. In some cases, the body freezes itself not to feel pain. 

Consequently, it disrupts the mental growth of children, psychologically etiolate parents, and this can execute the perpetual transition in emotions, mind and memory, which can betide even many years after the danger has passed. As far as children are concerned, it is a herculean task for them to tackle such trauma since their defense system is extremely limited and deem themselves incomplete or imperfect if attacked by trauma.

After hazardous attacks during 11 days of violence, a mother of five children Umm Naeem, 50 years old, vocalized, “My children could not sleep all night even after the wave of intensive bombing stopped.”

In the 2014 war waged by Israel against Palestine, 88.4 percent of children and adolescents had undergone trauma. 

Further, a study depicts that more than 54.7 percent of Palestinian children have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives. 

If recently non-stop Israeli attacks had not ceased, this would have led to major psychological problems among them. Still, no study has unearthed any figure of psychologically affected people, but one can surmise from a statement of that mother, Umm Naeem, that virtually entire tally of children was at risk of the trauma.

Economically, as the Palestinian economy was already contracted due to the pandemic, the conflict added much to it. Per capita income has dropped, the unemployment rate has raised, inflation has hiked and destruction of various buildings and infrastructure has cost too much to Palestine. Thereby, the consequence of this conflict can last longer and the Palestinian government will take much time to stabilize its economy. 

Furthermore, when it comes to the matter of Israel, United States plays a constructive role and leaves no stone unturned to stand by Israel.

Militarily, since the creation of Israel, United States has provided $146 billion in foreign aid, nearly all of this was pertaining to the military. Annually, United States provides $3.8 billion in aid to Israel.

Recently, to add fuel to fire, the Biden administration had approved the sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel. 

Diplomatically, since 1976, United States has exercised its right to veto in the United Nations Security Council 82 times, whereas 45 of them have been utilized to protect Israel from criticism and accountability for war crimes or human rights violations. Under United States cover, Israel has seized more and more Palestinians’ land in the occupied territories of West Bank and East Jerusalem.

To sum up, the 11 days of unceasing systematic violence against Palestinians have devastated the Gaza strip. Israel should not be scot-free since she has violated human rights. If it is considered war, then she has committed war crimes killing innocent children, civilians, journalists and doctors. United Nations should constrain Israel to compensate Palestine for its entire destruction. And, a two-nation solution should be applied so that Israel cannot find any space to occupy Palestinian land and kill innocent people.

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