In a world in perpetual turbulence for various reasons depending on very specific contexts, having one or more strong allies is a major asset, especially when you share the same enemies.
Since 1948, the Republic of Israel has refused to come out in favour of an independent Palestinian State. If today 146 of the 193 members of the United Nations recognize a Palestinian State, this State is still not recognized as a full member of the United Nations, in particular because of its problems with the Zionist State which has several strong allies permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
The reasons for a series of Israeli offensives in Palestine
If we can consider Israel's refusal to recognize a Palestinian State as the consequence of an oversized ego favoured by very powerful allies on the international scene, the current Prime Minister would say no because according to him, the problem is not the Palestine but rather Hamas, a very violent Islamic resistance movement considered as a “terrorist movement” in particular by the European Union and the United States.
Yaïr Lapid Benyamin Netanyahu's predecessor already specified in 2022 following the declaration to the United Nations Council by Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah and president of the Palestinian Authority, telling him “to lay down your arms and there will be peace. » This means that if the territory is not pacified from within, no dual-State solution is possible.
In addition to the kidnapping of Israeli hostages, the new terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 claimed by Hamas, which has administered the Gaza Strip since 2007, motivated the Israeli counter-offensive supported in particular by its American ally who took the care to specify that its support has limits that must not be exceeded.
Shared responsibilities?
Recent Israeli military offensives in Gaza and Rafah have so far caused enormous losses in human lives and material. The populations of Gaza live under ruins and in tents while remaining tossed between places of calm and areas of targeted operations.
We could ask the question of who is to blame, but the question is useless since the thousands of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrations around the world since the attacks of October 7, 2023 provide the answer. But be that as it may, we cannot blame a State for defending itself after having been attacked! Attacking a system necessarily involves preparing for retaliation.
What is unfortunate are the many Gazans who are dying and living in constant insecurity on all levels: humanitarian operations are blocked, there is no way to provide adequate health care, there is no way to constantly and adequately supply the populations with food, difficulties in having water, electricity and clothing among many other problems and all in a space with an uncertain future.
If we must accuse Israel, we must also demand accountability from Hamas and in particular its armed wing which, according to certain sources, has operated without the knowledge of the political branch more concerned with establishing political and diplomatic relations for several years. We are in fact at an impasse where each of the parties passes responsibilities on to each other. But in this imbroglio which dates back more than 17 years from 2007 with the forceful capture of Gaza by the armed wing of Hamas after the favourable outcome of the results of an unacceptable election not only for the opposing camp, namely Fatah, but also Israel and its American ally who respectively froze Palestinian public finances, imposed a blockade of the Gaza Strip, and stopped all food aid and relations with Palestine.
This war also dates back more than 75 years from 1949, notably with the signing of the armistice lines between Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan (present-day Jordan) and Syria which demarcate a smaller Palestinian Territory and a larger Israeli State between February and July, after the United Nations Organization declared itself in favour of dividing the Territory into three in 1947 following the withdrawal in 1946 of the British from this former mandated Territory which was already characterized by violent opposition between Zionist and Palestinian movements between September 1923 and May 1948 with the end of the Mandate. Indeed, this decision to put Jerusalem under the supervision of the UNO, to grant 55% of the Territory to the future Israeli State and 45% to Palestine led to a first war between Israel and the other neighbouring Arab States in May 1948 just after the proclamation of the independence of the State of Israel and the departure of the British. A war which ended with unacceptable agreements for the Palestinians who in fact no longer had any territory because the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied by Jordan. After several years of tensions and in particular the six-day war from June 5 to 10, 1967 which ended with an Israeli victory against the Arab States and the recovery of several States hitherto administered by Egypt, Syria and the Jordan, resolution 242 intervened with its project of respect and sovereignty for each Territory and the political independence of each State through the establishment of demilitarized zones. But it took 38 years and specifically until 2005 to witness Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and many of its Jewish settlements in Palestine.
In 1993, the Oslo Accords signed by Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization which was the only Palestinian resistance organization recognized by the United Nations, and the Israeli prime minister at the time Yitzhak Rabin plans the creation of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza in 1998. But clashes between Israelis and Palestinians have not stopped. The second revolt against the “oppressive” State between 2000 and 2005 through suicide attacks caused numerous losses of human lives, thus breaking a peace process re-established by Mahmoud Abbas after the death of Yasser Arafat. But the situation remains unstable until now, particularly because of the divisions between Palestinians which once again resulted in the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, which caused thousands of deaths.
But in the meantime, the international community continues to express itself in a dispersed manner, through several sovereign acts of recognition of a Palestinian State to help put an end to a war that has already lasted too long. Even if this does not mean that the Territory is independent, these are still significant signs which announce a better tomorrow which will first involve the pacification of a territory where the populations live under the weight of the horrors of war. But the mediations continue all the same thanks to so-called neutral States which are seeking a return to calm despite the divergent points of view of the two belligerents who do not intend to give each other gifts. The kidnapping of hostages on October 7, 2023 was already a way of putting pressure on Israel. If there were releases it is because Israel offered something in return, notably hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The tone of discord is only rising while the Gazans remain in an unbearable daily ordeal which will certainly require decades more to heal in a context where the satisfaction of personal interests make fun of the collateral damage certainly caused by the attitude irresponsible of the military branch of a movement determined to prolong the war and of a Zionist State determined to use all means to achieve its ends even if it means innocent people die.
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1949 Armistice lines
