Perpetual war, democracy and human rights in the Middle East

As these lines are written, the war against Hamas and the bombing of Gaza rages on. Activists carrying humanitarian aid have been illegally seized in international waters. Between 40 and 70 thousand Palestinians, the vast majority civilians, have been killed directly by bombing and violence. Indirect deaths could compound up to 186 thousand people. The massive death toll is hardly surprising, given the implications of bombings and urban warfare in what was essentially an already overcrowded urban area.

After the horrific attacks of 2023 by Hamas, which killed over 1250 people and abducted over 250, the organization has certainly used civilians as human shields, and has shown little effort in freeing the hostages. Netanyahu's government decided to invade the strip, purposedly, to rescue them and end Hamas for good. Almost two years afterwards, Hamas still counts almost as many militants, and many hostages are still missing or believed dead. It is necessary to remember that in 2023 Netanyahu's leadership was seriously questioned after his authoritarian power grab. Even today, most of Israel's society still wants him gone. For his coalition, and his far-right partners, ending the war might very well mean ending their political careers.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has stretched for many decades, and several attempts at peace have been derailed on both sides, with political extremes bent on the extermination of the other. However, this new, prolonged war with unseen amounts of deaths points to a new situation. What used to be a fringe political position (ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians) is moving towards the mainstream in Israeli politics. Ending Hamas with bombs might succeed, but the chances of a resulting peaceful interlocutor to engage with are extremely low, and the cost is immense. More likely, the cycle of violence will increase, just like former eliminations such as the PLO resulted in the current status quo. The perverse situation is that, in order to remain in power, the current Prime Minister must continue the cycle. Lebanon, raids on Syria and incursions, and rising instability with Jordan point to new potential fronts of a perpetual war. Iran remains active in the back, and an open war with Tehran remains part of the question on both Israel and Iran's side.

The two-state solution always seemed unlikely, as many on both sides believed in the one-state solution, but differed on the state itself. A perpetual war makes this unattainable, and points to a much darker future. Israel's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, was widely condemned for saying that the starvation of millions in Gaza might be justified and moral. As the war continues, human rights will continue to suffer, and many more will die or be displaced. Israel's government probably feels empowered by the Trump administration, too, to disregard any resemblance of international order: what would have been an extreme proposal of the far right not long ago is now brought forward by the US president himself.

The Workers' Group is deeply worried, not just about the disastrous humanitarian crisis unfolding and the outrageous death toll, but also about the course Netanyahu and his collaborators are locking Israel in. They might temporarily win this war, but the old trilemma of Israel not being able to remain a democracy, a jewish state, and integrate Palestinians as a whole points to worrying 'solutions'. A perpetual war to avoid political defeat is now colluding with far right delusions of a 'Greater Israel'. Human rights and democracy, already endangered, are likely to be just another casualty of war. As violence breeds violence, Israel will find itself even more besieged than before.

While the actions of Hamas are truly despicable and their intentions are evidently genocidal in its consequences (by calling for the annihilation of the state of Israel in their very covenant), the 2 million population of Gaza cannot be held collectively responsible for the actions of the terrorist group, and cannot be collectively punished systematically, let alone displaced and cleansed. These are clear violations of Human Rights.

We call for a ceasefire and the flow of humanitarian aid to prevent an even greater humanitarian catastrophe. Israel must negotiate with the Palestinian Authority and its neighbours a viable peace plan, including a sustainable Palestine. Hamas must release all remaining hostages, stop using civilian infrastructure as a cover, and disband, ending its reign of oppression over the people of Gaza. The US must stop playing with ethnic cleansing proposals and defend human rights and international law. And the European Union must, until this happens, pressure and sanction all sides, and remind Israel of its special responsibility and commitments, as a democratic state which is supposed to abide by the rule of law and human rights. The perpetual war must be avoided before it is too late.