One war chases another. On the first anniversary of October 7, 2023, the day of the largest massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas fighters and the beginning of the destruction of the Gaza Strip by Israel's army, all eyes may well be on the Blue Line, the line, established by the UN in 2000, that separates Israel from Lebanon in the absence of a genuine border both countries agreed on. Such an obvious diversion, and such a dramatic one, would spare the losers of the war in Gaza a painful introspection.
We're not talking here about the direct victims of this war whose end is nowhere in sight: the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths, almost a hundred thousand wounded, field upon field of ruins where nothing has been spared. According to the latest World Bank report published this month, the war has plunged almost 100% of the population into poverty and dramatic food insecurity. Conducted despite the imposed silence Israel has maintained over Gaza, the report also noted the collapse of the school system, due to massive destruction of educational facilities (estimated at 95% of the total of what had existed) and hundreds of deaths among teaching staff. An identical disaster has also occurred in the health sector.
Humiliation upon humiliation
More than 2 million people are affected, and this will continue for a long time to come. The Israeli response decimated the Hamas militia, destroying much of its weaponry and infrastructure at exorbitant cost. However, the Israeli army's main mission was the total eradication of the Islamist movement – an unattainable goal. Its second aim, which has increasingly become secondary in the eyes of the ruling coalition, was the release of the Israelis taken hostage on October 7. Almost a year after it began, the war is gradually transforming into a lasting reoccupation of the narrow territory.
This reoccupation is currently supported by two military corridors, one to the south of the city of Gaza, the other on the border with Egypt. It is completed by the de facto creation of a buffer zone around the perimeter of the strip, which further reduces its usable surface area. In this way, the Israeli army intends to maintain its ability to act on the ground and to penetrate deeply. In other words, the reconstruction of Gaza, when it comes down to it, will be a different kind of hell, with results whose longevity can never be guaranteed. The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in June that the massive Israeli bombardment had generated 39 million tonnes of rubble. The UN estimates that it will take more than a decade to deal with it.
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