Once again, after an assassination attempt in Iran against a Hamas leader, the crisis in the Middle East threatens to escalate further. PAX believes that everything should be aimed at silencing the weapons in the entire region, first and foremost in Gaza, immediately. The Dutch government must do much more to achieve this.
For over 300 days Israel has been waging war against Gaza. Virtually the entire coastal strip is being destroyed, with already more than 40,000 dead on the Palestinian side (and probably a multitude of Palestinians that died of starvation, illness and other consequences of the violence). Civilian targets are continuously hit, such as several schools in recent weeks. Human rights violations and war crimes are committed on a large scale, including through the use of hunger as a weapon of war. Partly because of this, preventable diseases break out, such as polio recently. Meanwhile, violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is also on the rise, already resulting in hundreds of deaths.
This war in Gaza has escalating, regional implications. Israeli attacks on Lebanon take place continuously, as well as, vice versa, attacks by the armed paramilitary group Hezbollah on Israel. Just last week, a senior Hezbollah military leader, Fouad Shukr, was killed in the capital Beirut. Civilians are regularly killed in such attacks. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in both Lebanon and Israel. International shipping from Yemen toward Israel is under fire. The U.S. conducts attacks on targets in Yemen. In April this year, after an Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria, Iran directly attacked Israel. Attacks by Iraqi and Syrian militias on U.S. targets in those countries are also increasing.
After Israel’s deadly attack last week in Tehran against Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, further escalation is likely and a cease-fire in Gaza is even further out of the picture. Haniyeh, against whom the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant, was the main negotiator on the Palestinian side to achieve the silencing of arms. Therefore, it is also bad news for the Israeli and Palestinian prisoners and hostages still being held. Israeli President Netanyahu, against whom the Criminal Court prosecutor is also seeking an arrest warrant, seems to benefit most from further escalation because his cabinet is unlikely to survive a cease-fire. Certainly, that could lead to the end of his political career and even imprisonment, according to a variety of analysts, in part because prosecution for corruption hangs over his head.
PAX is extremely concerned about all these developments and is convinced that an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza is needed to avoid further escalation in the region. This is the only way to prevent further civilian suffering. Problematically, the new Dutch Foreign Minister Veldkamp has indicated that he wants to be less outspoken about Israel. The opposite is now needed. Israel must, especially now, be made very clear that there will be consequences if the country continues to stand in the way of peace.