Israel-Hamas war: A paramount need for diplomacy

Nine days into the crisis in Gaza, it becomes important for diplomacy to step in and for the nations in the Middle East to undertake serious moves in a resolution of the conflict. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been on a tour of the region, basically as an apologist for Israel's military action in Gaza. The American position on the situation has not helped, but it is quite certain that behind closed doors all the leaders of the states he has visited on his tour will have expressed their grave concerns over the relentless, and inhumane, action of the Netanyahu government in response to the Hamas missile attacks on Israeli territory last week.

The need for peace, or at least a ceasefire, has never been greater than it is today. While Israel, having forced tens of thousands of Gazans out of the northern part of the enclave as a preparation for what is likely to be a ground invasion of it, seems determined to flush out Hamas activists, pro-Palestinian rallies have been taking place on a global scale. There is a curious but understandable dichotomy at work here. While western governments have lined up behind Israel, people in the West have come forth to demand an end to the indiscriminate assault on Gaza's population by Israeli forces.

The bottomline ought to be obvious: the crisis needs to be contained lest it broaden out into a larger sphere. Already the situation in the occupied West Bank has become worrying, with Israel closing off access to and from it. In clear terms, it has now become a priority for diplomatic moves to be made toward bringing the crisis to an end.

The first step here is the need for Israel's friends in western capitals to influence Tel Aviv into suspending its operations in Gaza. If that does not happen, it will be a certainty that even if Tel Aviv is able to silence Hamas, it will be unable to guarantee a peaceful region in the future. Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation has been there before and will always be there in future --- unless Israel changes course.

The paramount need now is for all the players in the Middle East to revive the idea, and seriously at that, of a two-state solution in the region. That will entail such imperatives as ensuring that Jerusalem returns to the position it held before the June 1967 war. It will also mean that Israel's decision to have Jerusalem as its capital will need to be rescinded. All illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Arab land have to be abandoned under international law.

A concerted international effort coordinated by governments in the Middle East together with the United Nations toward a cessation of Israel's military action is today a grave requirement. The impunity with which the Netanyahu government has been pounding away at Gaza, resulting in humanitarian as also human rights issues, will need to be forced to an end. No one should be under any illusion that the ongoing Israeli action is a solution. It is not, for it has only exacerbated conditions.

A broad level of diplomacy, purposeful and substantive, must come in. The West, by its unflinching support for Israel, has unfortunately lost the moral right and clout to convince Palestinians that their future will be safe. It will be for the leaders of the Middle Eastern nations to take the initiative. But such an initiative ought reasonably to include Iran, which has close ties with Hamas.

Indeed, such a move should include, besides the Palestinian Authority, the leadership of Hamas. History ought to be a guide here. For decades Yasser Arafat and the PLO were derided as terrorists by Israel and the West, but then came a time when Arafat became a valued partner in the search for peace.

Hamas has shown that it matters. Any move for peace cannot but take its position into account. On its own, in order to be part of any settlement, it will have to shed its militancy. A new policy, that of moderation, will ensure a place for it at the table.

Here is what needs to be ensured. Israel will need to vacate all of Gaza and all of the West Bank if peace is not to be elusive. The creation of a fully independent Palestine, with all the attributes and characteristics of a sovereign state, is the only path to a tranquil Middle East.

Meanwhile, Israel needs to reclaim the vision once shaped by Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres. These Israeli leaders of the recent past possessed the ability to see the woods beyond the trees. 

Syed Badrul Ahsan. Illustration: TBS

Syed Badrul Ahsan is a writer and journalist.