A tragic path to further bloodshed in Gaza

In the wake of the horrific attack on a refugee camp in Rafah that killed dozens of Palestinian civilians sheltering in tents, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled it a “tragic mishap” and promised utmost efforts to avoid harming innocents. This rings depressingly familiar after previous “tragic accidents” and “unbearable tragedies” for which Netanyahu’s government pledged investigations and lessons learned, only for more civilian bloodletting to follow.

The Rafah offensive plan has not been forestalled.

This knee-jerk response was significant in its addendum — Israel succeeded in targeting two key Hamas leaders. The invisible bracketed text was unmistakable: the ends justify the means. 

The prediction in our editorial ten days after Hamas’ October attacks has sadly rung true – Netanyahu’s heavy-handed retaliation rooted in his right-wing politics has inflamed rather than resolved this conflict. We warned then that his “ham-fisted approach threatens to widen the conflict” by emboldening groups like Hezbollah. Not only did Hezbollah forces make incursions into northern Israel but its backer Iran launched a drone and missile attack aimed at Israel.

We again stress the international consensus that addressing the root causes of the conflict and seeking a just, long-term resolution are essential to prevent further bloodshed. Yet Netanyahu’s harsh prosecution of this war, born of his tenuous political position, legal troubles and slavish ideological adherence, forecloses any path to peace. Civilian casualties are not “tragic mishaps”. The killing of thousands of women and children is the inevitable result of disproportionate retaliation.

The international community cannot stand idly by. The laws of war prohibit intentional attacks on civilians as well as indiscriminate attacks that fail to distinguish civilians from combatants.

The evidence is mounting and incontrovertible: no conflict anywhere in decades has disproportionately killed as many non-combatants: children, women, medics, aid workers, war correspondents. None and nowhere. Israel’s actions have repeatedly crossed these lines into the realm of war crimes. Nothing, not even the sickening act of mass murder that was the worst since the Jewish Holocaust justifies an even more callous wade through the blood of innocents.

Our collective grief and sympathy with the Israeli people over the depravity of Hamas’ October 7 attacks cannot give Netanyahu’s government carte blanche to breed further atrocities. The United States was right to demand a thorough investigation into the Rafah killings. It must go further by supporting international bodies seeking criminal accountability for those responsible and heeding calls for an immediate cease-fire to prevent further escalation. Washington’s own non-membership of the International Criminal Court undermines US moral leadership.

Only by rejecting the extremism and human rights abuses of both Hamas and the Israeli military can we hope to break this cycle of violence. We are witnessing a cataclysmic clash in historical slow-motion, a sad vigil of an extreme response that will probably thwart hopes for peace, freedom and human dignity in the Middle East for generations.

With or without the neutralisation of Hamas, we are convinced that new political leadership in Tel Aviv is essential to ending this conflict, addressing Palestinian grievances and finally securing a just peace between Israel, Palestine and their neighbours.