500 days of war later, Gaza’s fate uncertain
Attempts to erase the Gazans’ claim to their homeland may serve only to further radicalise not just the Palestinians but also sympathisers of Palestine
Gaza, now a ghost town, stares at greater uncertainty than it faced at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war just over 500 days ago. In the interim, an immense human cost has been paid, with 1,200 dead on the Israeli side more than 48,000 on the Palestinian side, and hundreds of thousands of Gazans rendered homeless. Sure, a tenuous peace has been achieved, and Israeli bombs are not raining down for now, but this peace remains fragile. The primary issues that led to the war — the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, the Palestinian’s right to movement, and, most importantly, the question of Palestinian Statehood — have expectedly not disappeared. But there are new thorns emerging for lasting peace in the region.
US president Donald Trump’s stance — which could eventually translate into the United States’ Gaza policy — of clearing Gaza of Palestinians and Benjamin Netanyahu’s high-stakes pursuit oftotal elimination of Hamas have only stoked apprehensions about what Israel and the US intend to do there. Trump wants Gazans to relocate to Jordan and Egypt, which the Arab world has already rejected. Netanyahu has seconded this line of ethnic cleansing enthusiastically, saying Israel would be up for the job of clearing out Gaza.
Attempts to erase the Gazans’ claim to their homeland may serve only to further radicalise not just the Palestinians but also sympathisers of Palestine in the larger Arab world. Gaza, in its present condition, remains uninhabitable, with skeletons of homes standing amid the rubble and its health systems, water and other utilities having completely collapsed. It needs to be rebuilt, and the global community must come together to do this, but with Gazans and the larger Palestinian community having the final say.
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