The death toll in Palestine continues to rise. Israel continues to punish innocent civilians for the Hamas attack on 7th October, a retaliatory attack by the Palestinian-based organisation for over half a century of suppression, intimidation and ethnic cleansing.
Despite claims by Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden that the western world stands with Israel, the opposite is true. Across the world numerous protests have taken place – in London on 28th October an estimated half a million protestors marched through the streets. This has been the third consecutive weekend that the English capital has seen mass protest marches to end the conflict in Gaza and achieve freedom for the Palestinian people.
Protests have also taken place in cities as diverse as Istanbul, San Francisco, L.A., New York, Baghdad and Sydney . Unfortunately it is unlikely that Israel will cease military actions in the Gaza region or withdraw from Gaza. Recently Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on the record against a ceasefire stating it would be seen as surrendering to Hamas, whom he described as committing acts of ‘terrorism’ and ‘barbarism’ – a rather hypocritical statement if ever there was one! The Prime Minister further elaborated by seemingly justifying the violence through citing religious scripture;
‘You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember, and we are fighting. Our brave troops and combatants, who are now in Gaza or around Gaza and in all other regions in Israel, are joining this chain of Jewish heroes, a chain that has started 3,000 years ago…’
Despite strong support from Western allies, not all countries are following blindly behind the likes of the US and the UK. Bolivia, for one, has announced that it has cut off all diplomatic ties with Israel. It becomes the first Latin American country in this decade to do so but may soon be followed by Colombia as well as Chile, whose president has publicly denounced the actions of Netanyahu and the IDF:
‘Chile strongly condemns and observes with great concern that these military operations – which at this point in their development entail collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza. I have decided to call our ambassador in Israel for consultation. If Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people we cannot be there.’
Furthermore, Bolivia’s Minister of the Presidency Maria Nela Prada has stated the country plans to commit to sending support to Gaza. Prada is a member of the Movement for Socialism serving under socialist President Luis Alberto Arce who called Israel’s actions ‘crimes against humanity.’
Closer to the conflict, the countries of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all issued statements condemning the actions of the IDF. The UAE’s statement read: ‘Indiscriminate attacks will result in irreparable ramifications in the region.’ Jordan has also recalled its ambassador to Israel ‘as an expression of Jordan’s position of rejection and condemnation of the raging Israeli war on Gaza’.
As Netanyahu might look to his scriptures for reasons to commit war crimes on civilians, it is not beyond reason that others who share the Islamic beliefs might seek to do the same in retaliation. Unless a ceasefire is agreed and the Palestinians released from the apartheid regime, there is still every possibility for this conflict to escalate further. As for now, the majority of the battles are taking place in Gaza – where true horrors are occurring daily as the death toll has risen to over eight and a half thousand.