By Imali Ngusale
Tension mounts as the world enters day 11 of an impending war between the Israeli army and the Hamas terrorist group. This is in the wake of Israel’s relentless warning on an imminent surge against Hamas invasion which saw over 1,300 deaths and approximately 199 hostages.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel warns that his government’s retaliation will likely go down in history as Israel’s grand offensive war. While addressing the parliament at the first cabinet meeting of the new national emergency government in Tel Aviv, he said, “Our goal is victory, a crushing victory over Hamas, toppling it’s rule and removing it’s threat over Israel once and for all.”
Netanyahu reassured that Israel will do everything in its power to safeguard it’s interests as a Nation state. He maintained that Israel’s attack is just a matter of time and has asked civilians to pack up and leave before the assault commences.
This notwithstanding, U.S President Joe Biden seems to employing some caution. He said that, “It would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.” In his view Hamas doesn’t represent all the Palestine people.”
It would therefore be an “unnecessary requirement,” for Israel to occupy Gaza,” added Biden while speaking during the interview.
As this ensues rumours of a “negotiation” deal were hoovering around social and mainstream media, however neither Israel nor Hamas have confirmed this amidst, a U.S driven shuttle diplomacy backed up by President Joe Biden administration.
The United States ‘ foreign minister, Antony Blinken has frantically been in and out of the many States advocating for a a “mechanism to secure the Gaza refugees.” In his quest for a diplomatic negotiation he has visited Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the West Bank to get the Arab players on the same page. But seemingly, the situation is still tense in the Middle East region.
Many families that initially resided in Gaza are reportedly stuck and shave not been able to leave- their homes. Some civilians made it out of the terror stricken cites but now remain stuck at the apex of Egypt’s border.
Surprisingly, Ismail Hamiyeh, Chairman Hamas Political Bureau praised the assault against Israel dabbing it ” A glorious victory for the Palestine people.”
While addressing the press, Hamiyeh said , “There will be no migration from Gaza, while lauding Egypt’s actions of refusing to host refugees from Gaza.” He condemns Israel’s invasion plan and urged the Gaza civilians to remain in their homes.
Notably, Ismail Hamiyeh is not in Gaza and is reportedly on a foreign tour to garner more support for Hamas.
As this ensues Hezbollah have hinted that they will join Hamas in fighting Israel . Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s spokesman said that they are “fully ready,” to attack Israel and have already launch some attacks through Lebanon.
In response, Israel has evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon and Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah not to “test” the Israeli army.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are in a pact known as Axis of resistance. Reportedly, 89% of Shīʿite Muslims support Hezbollah which seems to have its fingers on the trigger and have a larger and more formidable army compared to Hamas.
Meanwhile, China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are having talks in Beijing and are yet to rally support for or against Israel. It is envisaged that they may take sides against their gravest long-term “strategic competitor,” the United States of America but this presupposition will only be qualified by the sand of time. Either way, the Israeli-Hamas war has the potential to morph into another World War.
The writer is a renown journalist and an international relations scholar and currently works for the Africa Women and Development Network as a communication and knowledge management specialist.
