The killing of seven international aid workers delivering food to the starving people of Gaza marks yet another low point in Israel’s bombardment of the enclave. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered a tentative apology of sorts, speaking of troops “unintentionally hitting” the aid workers, but evidence that has emerged suggests the convoy of the World Central Kitchen was systematically targeted multiple times, with Israeli forces striking as the aid workers sought to move between three vehicles that were hit one after the other. While there can be no justification whatsoever for Hamas’ terror attacks that triggered this conflict, Israel’s heavy-handed response is only whittling away support for it across the world. It is also difficult to fathom the goals of the war being fought by the Benjamin Netanyahu government unless it is meant to strengthen Israel’s grip on all the territories it currently holds and to remove the possibility of a two-State solution.
The governments of the US and the UK, which have lost citizens in this incident, are facing increased pressure from the public to press Israel for a course correction. There is also a growing clamour for them to stop arming Israel in view of the human rights excesses that have been recorded in the Gaza Strip. The daily toll of deaths will only serve to strengthen extremist elements in the Arab States, which have walked the extra mile in efforts to normalise relations with Israel. Irrespective of all this, Israel has prolonged this war for far too long, and its actions — the strike on the Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria, for instance — carry the frightening prospect of dragging the entire neighbourhood into the conflict. The time has come for Israel to heed global calls to stop the bombardment of Gaza and allow humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people.
