The Palestinian people, including their children, live in a constant environment of fear, and this is so over the last several decades. The recent flare-up in the Gaza strip which saw Israeli air strikes killing at least thirty-three Palestinians, six of them children also, once again enunciated the plight of innocent and armless Palestinian people.
As a result of Egyptian efforts, Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to a truce which binds both sides to avoid targeting civilians and house demolition.
Given the Israeli hostilities especially ever since the advent of this year which has so far seen the killing of at least one hundred and fifty Palestinians, the million-dollar question is whether this ceasefire will hold and if so, then for how long?
On its part, Palestinian Islamic Jihad has made it clear that they will abide by it until Israel adheres to it.
It is the history of occupying forces in occupied Palestinian territories to break the truce at its own will without caring for anyone. Also as the Egyptian-brokered truce was about to take hold, Israeli forces were attacking targets inside Gaza. In such a scenario, the response from the Palestinian side is imminent and definitely it should be so, as they have the right to defend themselves and give hope to the ordinary Palestinians that there is somebody to protect them and their families.
The recent escalation has also raised alarm bells in the regional countries, with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saudi, in his telephonic conversation with the Russian counterpart, discussed the rising tension in the Middle East. Then, the Saudi FM also held telephonic conversation with his Iranian counterpart.
The efforts of the regional as well as some other important capitals especially Washington should be to ensure that the truce stays intact to bring some sort of solace and ease in the lives of Palestinians.
Though nothing good can be expected from the extremist Jewish government, yet it is important that Israel is compelled to open the crossings for the movement of people and goods. According to human rights groups, travel blocking by Israel at present is preventing patients from accessing medical treatment not available in Gaza as well as urgent humanitarian needs are not pouring into the occupied territory.
The fact of the matter is that Israel has, over the years, been using all these oppressive and excessive tactics to crush the Palestinians. These also include the demolition of Palestinian homes and the building of illegal settlements as well as the desecration of their holy places, especially Al-Aqsa mosque, in sharp contrast to the United Nations Security Council resolutions. The irony is that whenever a resolution is moved in the world body against Israel, countries, particularly the United States appear to be standing with the oppressor rather than the oppressed. This has emboldened the Jewish leadership to go ahead with its atrocities and persecution of Palestinians with complete impunity.
Israel has backtracked from two-state solution. The recent flare-up in Gaza is a reminder of the stark ground realities in the occupied Palestinian territories, which the Jewish state wants to annex by all means and leave the Palestinians stateless. This will bring more miseries to the Palestinians. Indeed the Palestinian people will not accept this and to protect their land, they will not refrain from further rendering their lives as they have been doing so over the last many decades.
There cannot be peace in the Middle East until the resolution of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Greater responsibility rests with Washington to use its influence on the Jewish state to move towards the resolution of this lingering conflict. It is also for the Muslim countries especially those in the Gulf to firmly stand with their Palestinian brothers and sisters and come forward for their assistance.
