Each passing day in Gaza reveals as much about the ordeal endured by Palestinian civilians as it does about what Israel has become. On February 29, the same day that the number of Palestinians killed passed the shocking figure of 30,000, according to an estimate by what remains of the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, a further tragedy was added to the horrors of the war launched in retaliation for the massacres of Israeli civilians perpetrated by the Islamist group on October 7, 2023.
A food aid convoy was stormed by deprived civilians near Gaza City, close to Israeli positions. The hunger riot and the stampede it triggered led to Israeli fire, which the army acknowledged. Dozens of Palestinians died. This is the consequence of Israel's obstacles to the delivery of vital aid, which are inexorably pushing this overpopulated territory toward a man-made famine.
This tragedy should not be seen as an isolated incident. On the contrary, it reveals what the Israelis intend to do with Gaza after the fighting, which for the time being has no end in sight, despite the lack of results regarding its twofold objective: the liberation of the Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7 and the total eradication of Hamas.
Stubborn refusal
After the methodical crushing of the narrow strip of land, transformed by a freewheeling army into a field of ruins at the cost of a terrible human toll, this project now involves the destruction of the slightest form of administration. And it's not just Hamas. The attempt to eliminate UNRWA, the United Nations agency in charge of Palestinian refugees, whose work is crucial in Gaza, is part of this effort.
This Israeli objective is reflected in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stubborn refusal to allow the return of a "revitalized" Palestinian Authority, as desired by US President Joe Biden, to supplant Hamas. Israel wants chaos to reign. The convoy stormed on February 29 was not organized in coordination with the UN agencies still present in the area.
Israel's allies – starting with the United States, which is equipping its military forces, unmoved by the war crimes they are enabling, like the Europeans – have a choice. They can weakly accommodate this strategy, which aims for a return, only much worse, to the situation that prevailed before October 7, 2023, i.e. the strangulation of the Gaza Strip by a ruthless land and sea blockade. They will be accomplices if they continue to finance, without demanding anything in return, the survival of this territory, which is now in question, as is the apparent status quo prevailing in a West Bank ravaged by Israeli colonization.
On the contrary, they can decide to establish the beginnings of a balance of power if they are convinced that the protection of civilians in a land for which Israel has no internationally recognized rights is the prerequisite for any political prospect, which Netanyahu stubbornly refuses to accept. It's a difficult choice, especially after years of cowardly disinterest, but there's no alternative to shame.