On October 9, in response to Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, the Israeli government had ordered a ‘complete siege’ on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The ruthless attack by Hamas on the people of Israel on October 7 was a horrific event that cost the lives of over 1,200 Israeli civilians among many others.
The Hamas militants came from the neighboring Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where the group had gained power in 2006, and was a coordinated effort of terror against Israel.
The reactionary Israeli government took very little time to respond, ordering an immediate all out siege of the Gaza Strip and effectively cutting more than 2 million civilians, half of whom are children, from food, electricity, and clean water.
This siege has involved the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, a high density populated area, with little regard for the civilian cost of the conflict. Hamas has claimed many of Israel’s own citizens residing within Gaza or captured as hostages by Hamas have been killed by these bombings, bringing into question the position of Israel’s government who claim they wish to minimize Israeli deaths and injuries.
An attack on a Palestinian hospital has resulted, according to the Palestinian health services, in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including the deaths of UN humanitarians offering aid to the people of Gaza.
China, claiming neutrality, has begun attempts to, with Egypt, broker a peace between Israel and Palestine. From Chinese special envoy for Middle Eastern affairs, Zhai Jun, “China is willing to maintain communication and coordination with Egypt, and to promote an immediate ceasefire and cessation of violence between the conflicting parties.”
As the crisis in Gaza continues, the US has been attempting to minimize the expansion of conflict across the Middle East, sending US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to seven middle eastern countries to hopefully prevent them from being involved in the conflict and furthering the violence, with questionable success, “I don’t think we can be more clear than we’ve been that when it comes to Israel security, we have Israel’s back.” Blinken made it very clear that the US, no matter what, would support the Israeli government, even at the expense of both the Palestinian and Israeli people.
Though these are the early days of the conflict, it appears as though the intervention of world powers into the region may fan the flames and bring the world into a high tension situation without a clear peaceful resolution, especially considering the statements made by Blinken in regards to supporting Israel’s war.
