By Musa Muhammad Hadejia
The war on Gaza continues to rage with fire power displays, spitting more fires and sending more assaults on Palestine; while the missiles keep on spinning and descending on the heavily populated areas of Khan Younus and environs in the Israel’s campaign of terror and horror. Israel forces have issued a new evacuation order in Khan Younis as they conduct their third operation there since October. The order came a few days after the displaced Palestinians were ‘permitted’ to return to the southern city.
The recent missile assault on a school in Khan Younis has claimed more than 100 lives, sending more shivers and messages to the world that Netanyahu and the IDF are committed to genocide and blatant contempt of the global order and decorum. Authorities reported that the Israeli triple bombs hit the school-turned-shelter in al-Tabin, located in the Daraj district, as people were praying, which triggered mass fire that ripped the building in a horrific massacre.
Women and children were reported among the dead in the targeted massacre. Without an iota of evidence the Israel military said in a separate statement that it had intelligence indicating there were 20 Hamas fighters, including senior commanders, operating from the school.
Israel is notorious for attacking soft targets with unsubstantiated claims that fighters are hiding hiding in the targeted locations. Qatar, Egypt – two of the key mediators leading the negotiations for a ceasefire have condemned the attack – among several other countries. The United Nations, NGOs, and several other groups and governments have also denounced the strike. The condemnations have been on since the start of the war, with very little or no efforts on the part of the international communities and agencies taking drastic practical measures on Israel and its mentor – the US.
This is coming at a time when the US warned Iran to avoid escalating the conflict; a call that will surely not be respected by Iran considering the damages done to Iran’s international image as Israel killed the political chief of Hamas Ismail Haneyah recently. Iran has vowed to retaliate in a way very commensurate and to the satisfaction of all Hamas fighters and Palestinian allies in the world. There have accusations of some internal complicity in the Haneyah assassination in Iran, while details are still very scanty.
Whatever it is, the world is now plunged in to a new era of uncertainties, fears and trauma that must be treated urgently.
The urgency is that many more complex dynamics are now emerging with the possibilities of Donald Trump becoming the next president of the US. This will most likely provide a dramatic turnaround in the entire conflict and the global power dynamics. This a side, a top Russian security official had arrived Iran recently in a seeming assessment of the damages and the possible next lines of actions.
In a desperate bid to curtail any eventualities, the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin updated Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on the ‘’measures to strengthen US military posture in the region’’ in light of ‘threats from Iran, Lebanese Hizballah, and other Iran-backed groups’, according to a statement from Pentagon.
The administration in Washington is very keen on avoiding war between Iran and Israel ahead of the November election, while it’s possible that Teheran’s moves fit in to wider strategic steps taken by the regime. The Biden administration has in recent days launched one more concentrated effort to dislodge the hostage -deal negotiations from their impasse, while trying to prevent an all-out Israel and Iran war with Hezbollah in support of Hamas.
The time is rapidly passing, and the world seems to be weak in providing the desired lead in mitigating the decades conflict of which the catastrophic consequences will be far more grievous than earlier expected; as more and more radical and nationalist groups emerge in different forms in support of Hamas/Palestine; including new groups in the US Europe and far beyond across the globe.
The time bomb is sticking, and the leaders seem to be happy with the status quo, and the imminent explosion will be far more than catastrophic.
