The 73rd anniversary of the Proclamation of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948 has been marked by communal rioting and an escalating conflict between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Palestinian self-governing territory of the Gaza Strip. It all began on 7 May, during Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque, within the hallowed precinct of Temple Mount (Haram ash-Sharif) in the Old City of Jerusalem, when Israeli police, claiming incitement, fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at increasingly restive worshippers. Tensions had already been rising over the threatened evictions of eight Palestinian families from East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Sectarian disorder soon erupted and rapidly spread to several mixed Arab-Jewish towns and cities throughout Israel, leading to street combat, mass protests, and extensive property damage. The unrest coincided with the frequently tense occasion of Nakba (catastrophe) Day, on 15 May, which commemorates the enforced deportation or voluntary exile of around 800,000 Palestinians from Israel in the aftermath of the withdrawal of the British Mandate from Palestine and the first Arab-Israeli War of 1948.
Volleys of short-range Qassam rockets and more recently developed medium-range rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory by members of the military wing of Hamas. the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in the latest replay of a continuing game of tit-for-tat with its overwhelmingly powerful neighbour. Some missed their targets, some caused civilian casualties, while yet others were intercepted by Israel’s sophisticated Iron Dome air defence system. Israel retaliated with aerial bombardment over Gaza and artillery and tank fire from beyond the border. Their targets included a network of underground tunnels under Gaza City, used by terrorists and referred to as the “metro”, tower blocks supposedly harbouring Hamas facilities, missile launch sites, and weapons manufacturing warehouses.
The Gaza Strip, a 25-mile long and 4-to-5-mile wide coastal strip on the eastern Mediterranean coast that once formed part of the Philistine federation in Biblical times, is a by- product of the recent troubled history of the southwestern Levant. The 140-square-mile territory, captured by the Kingdom of Egypt during the first Arab-Israeli war, officially came into existence when its northern and eastern borders with Israel were confirmed by the Israel-Egyptian Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949. It was initially administered, under Egyptian oversight, by the All-Palestine Government from 1948 to 1959, and briefly occupied by Israeli troops during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Periods of military rule under Egypt (1959-67) and Israel (1967-94) followed. The formation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994 ushered in a new era, as the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank came together to form a de jure Palestinian state. In recognition of its new quasi-independent status, Israel gradually removed all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, completing the process by 2005.
Warring factions soon broke up the young Palestinian state. Hamas, a Sunni Islamist political and military organisation, won 44% of the vote in the second Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006, but this victory was not accepted by all parties. Following major skirmishes, a peace deal was eventually brokered with the opposition Fatah party, and a Palestinian Authority national unity government set up between January and June 2007. This enforced truce failed to last, and Hamas took control over the Gaza Strip on 14 June 2007, while the West Bank reverted to Fatah control. International sanctions were to follow, with Hamas being declared a terrorist organisation by the EU, the US, the UK, and Australia among others. Since the Hamas takeover, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to a crippling land, sea and air blockade by both Israel and Egypt, being cut off by a buffer zone within its own territories as well as a border wall beyond. The Erez border crossing with Israel in the north and the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the south are the only means of communication between Gaza and its neighbours. Israel has also taken on Hamas in several military operations, including those codenamed Cast Lead (2008), Pillar of Defence (2012), and Protective Edge (2014).
The Gaza Strip is home to an estimated 1.9 million people, 1.4 million of whom are Palestinian refugees. It is densely populated, has high unemployment, lacks a proper infrastructure and health system, regularly faces shortages of food, fuel, medicines and consumer goods, and has been particularly hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. An agrarian economy, based on citrus fruits, olives and wheat, is supplemented by light industry and small-scale family businesses that produce textiles, soap, and handicrafts. The Strip depends upon Israel for its electricity, communications, and water supply. Growing social unrest and economic hardship within the enclave has created a growing population of disaffected youth, owing allegiance to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other militant organisations.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are in a state of limbo, lacking the protections and rights accorded to those Arabs who chose to become Israeli citizens. Around 150,000 Palestinians stayed on in the new state of Israel in 1948 and took on citizenship. About one-fifth of Israeli citizens today happen to be Arabs, either Christian or Muslim. Arab citizens and permanent residents can work, engage in business, vote in elections, and form political parties, all on the condition of swearing allegiance to the state of Israel and demonstrating some command of the Hebrew language. There are, however, some disparities and inequalities, as many important group rights which determine how resources are allocated only apply to Jewish citizens. Many Israeli Arabs frequently end up providing casual labour on farms, building sites and factories in Jewish areas, into which they commute daily from elsewhere.
The conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip has reached an impasse, a situation that is to be expected given the uncompromising positions adopted by the key players. Unlike Fatah, which recognises Israeli statehood while seeking a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine), Hamas denies Israel’s very right to existence, despite some limited concessions in its latest 2017 Charter. Israel thus sees Hamas as an existential threat, with which no dialogue is possible, and has accordingly invoked the right of self-defence as it takes on the recalcitrant terrorist group. Despite the usual and predictable worldwide calls for de-escalation and constructive negotiation, the likelihood of a long-lasting peace seems but a distant prospect.
The major players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are themselves divided. The unstable Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority, based in the West Bank town of Ramallah, lacks credibility, has not held an election since 2006, and does not recognise the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s system of proportional representation has itself created a potpourri of political parties- rightist, leftist and religious, both Zionist and non-Zionist-, fostering a succession of coalition governments since independence, in which extremist parties increasingly hold the deciding vote. Add to this growing radicalisation of Palestinian Arabs and the rise of ultra-nationalism among Orthodox Jews, and you have a situation which is rapidly getting out of control. It will take a major shift of thinking and a display of great initiative and courage among the region’s political leaders before any potential workable solution can be reached that ensures peaceful coexistence among the warring parties. As usual, while minds are being focused, innocent civilians will continue to bear the brunt of long-standing, deep-seated, and seemingly irreconcilable animosities.
Ashis Banerjee