The Israeli-Gaza War: Plot Thickens!

Ishtiaq Ahmed

Bradford: Israel-Gaza war  turns even more ugly as Israel intensifies its military response to Hezbollah inside Lebanon. In the recent raids, Israeli warplanes targeted the towns of Mahmoudieh, Ksar al-Aroush and Birket Jabbour in the Jezzine area along the Southern Lebanon border.

The Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said Hezbollah would “pay an increasing price. The sequence of our military actions will continue,” until the conditions near its border with Lebanon are safe enough for residents who have fled the cross-border attacks to return.

In his first speech  since the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hassan Nasrallah , the leader of Hezbollah , acknowledged that Hezbollah had suffered an “unprecedented” blow from the blasts, which killed 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 over two days.

Hassan Nasrallah has accused Israel of crossing all the “all the red lines” and pledged that Hezbollah would continue operations against Israel “until the aggression on Gaza stops”.

Hamas has expressed appreciation for the support from Hezbollah to  frustrate Israel’s “plans to undermine the support front of our people and resistance in the Gaza Strip”.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/the-human-cost-of-gaza-conflict/

The UK’s foreign secretary David Lammy has advised Britons in Lebanon to leave as things could “deteriorate rapidly”. Mr Lammy also called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

But Israel warned it will use “all means necessary” to secure its northern border with Lebanon.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander said Israel will face a “crushing response” as the plot  thickens.

In the meantime the Israeli soldiers were seen to be pushing three apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the occupied West Bank , according to an Associated Press journalist. This disregard of humanity has almost become habitual for the Israeli soldiers.

The IDF has said that the incident is “under review”, adding it “does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations.

Thus far over 40,000 Palestinians lives have been lost and hundreds of thousands displaced according to Gaza’s health ministry. Most of the dead are women and children. This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war.

On average, about 130 people have been killed every day in Gaza over the past 10 months. The scale of the Israeli military’s destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship is deeply shocking.

While the Western powers continue to cajole and support Israel the Muslim world apart from Iran remains uncertain, confused , divided and grossly lacking in its support for Gaza. These are shameful affairs.

The author is a British citizen of Pakistani origin with a keen interest in Pakistani and international affairs.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.