By XHABIR DERALLA
Hamas is responsible for the horrific terrorist attack in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed, including civilians, among which also children. The kidnapping of more than 150 civilians and the threat of their liquidation is another dark characteristic of this bloody operation of Hamas.
But the state of Israel is responsible for all the people living there, and that means also the Palestinian people. The attack by Hamas must not mean also a brutal attack, collective punishment by massacring Palestinian civilians, among which women, children, newborns… And that is exactly what is happening. At the time of this writing (day 8), more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed and three times as many have been wounded in the Israeli indiscriminate “carpet” bombing. Why? Newborns are also Hamas?
The Israelis suffered a bloody attack. It is known who is responsible. But revenge against Palestinian civilians is not justice, but a call for maintaining the endless bloody conflict and suffering of innocent people. The use of phosphorous bombs is banned, but Israel used them, according to reports of Human Rights Watch. This fact alone deserves condemnation.
Israel has an obligation to show greatness and statehood. It has the right to punish Hamas, but not the entire Palestinian people. The military response has to be in line with international law and international humanitarian law. At this moment, on the eighth day of the war, it is becoming obvious that respect for international norms, simply, does not exist.Hamas committed serious war crimes on October 7. But Israel also committed serious violation of international law and serious war crimes. There is nothing statesmanlike about that, just extreme use of disproportional force against civilian population in a country known for decades of practicing apartheid.
At this moment, after so many casualties, whose number is growing by the hour, Israel has to immediately enable humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza, stop military operations that endanger the lives of the civilians and abandon the plan to move 1.1 million Palestinian from Gaza City and the northern part of Gaza to the southern part of the area.
That order to move or “evacuate” as Israel calls it, is impossible and extremely inhumane. This has been pointed out by all significant human rights organizations and the UN. After initially leaders of the EU and of the member states expressed clear support for Israel following the terrorist attack by Hamas, the rhetoric is changing.
EU top diplomat Josep Borrell already on the third day after the start of the war, on Tuesday, stated that Israel is violating international law with the total blockade of Gaza Strip. European leaders can no longer harmonize their messages, because they can no longer maintain the initial unreserved support for Israel. It has to stop targeting hospitals and ambulances. Killing civilians, including women, pregnant women and children, as well as medical personnel and journalists – has to stop. The massacre of civilians has to stop!
The whole world is horrified by the attack of Hamas and has supported Israel. But that support started to weakenalreadyat the very start of the brutal response of the Israeli army, and soon will be lostif it continues to respond to the terrorism and war crimes of Hamas with war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
It must not be forgotten. Hamas, as well as a number of other terrorist organizations, far-right and authoritarian political parties and politicians, are unequivocally and directly supported and sponsored by the war criminal and dictator Putin. They are openly pro-Russian installations scattered around the world, starting from the Middle East and Africa, up to Western Europe.
The attack by Hamas, if not directly sponsored, then surely goes in his favor, with the purpose to defocus the world’s attention from the brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine.
With this brutal and extremely destructive war, Israel risks not only losing the support of the world public, but also helping Putin continue the bloody attacks against Ukraine and the democratic world.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
Originally published in Macedonian (LINK)
