Israel’s war in Gaza, now in its 10th month, will probably go down in history as the most morally bankrupt of all wars.

Whatever justification Israel had for its brutal Gaza war in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks has been severely eroded by its carnage of thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, as the total number of those killed in this war exceeds 40,000, not counting those buried under the rubble.

The Israeli war machine was merciless, sparing no schools, hospitals, refugee camps or any other targets under the pretext that Hamas elements were using them in some capacity.

For its goal of destroying Hamas, the Israeli army, in fact, considers any place in Gaza as a ‘legitimate’ target regardless of how many civilians may be killed or hurt in the process in total disregard for all international conventions on war.

The ferocity with which Israel has waged its war campaign on Gaza, a very small and dense geographical area, is reminiscent of World War II.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, it is estimated that, until late April, more than 70,000 tons of bombs had been dropped on Gaza since October 2023, surpassing the total number of bombs dropped on Dresden, Hamburg and London during World War II.

Israel has waged a genocidal war mercilessly sending thousands of children, women and elderly people to their death, not sparing even newborns. Thousands have been forcibly displaced.

The entire Gaza population is considered guilty by association to Hamas and collective punishment is, therefore, justified. Thousands wander aimlessly in search of shelter where there is no shelter, for safety where there is no safety, for food and water where there is none.

Amid all these horrors, the war government of Benjamin Netanyahu and his cohorts continue to seek the destruction of Hamas, with systematic assassination of its leaders even in the capitals of other sovereign countries.

The warmongers in the Israeli government and the far-right fanatics, such as Ben Gvir, who wish they could wipe Gaza out through an atomic bomb, have learned nothing from the lessons of history, chief among which, as I have argued in previous articles, is the fact that resistance can never be destroyed.

More than 70,000 tons of bombs had been dropped on Gaza since October 2023- Saadun Suayeh

In a war that is now approaching one year, Hamas, though bruised, is still fighting, as it sits at the negotiation table proud and defiant.

The possibility of reaching a negotiated settlement under which the war is ended and the hostages released depends largely on the political will of Israel to end its campaign of terror. Even its closest allies, such as the US, realise that the time for peace has come.

Israel is becoming too much of a liability as its short-sighted and dangerous policies may engulf the whole region in flames, which will not spare Israel itself.

At the time of writing, negotiations are taking place in Doha to reach a settlement with increasing pressure from the US. The main obstacle is the intransigence of the Netanyahu government, which want to appear as victorious, showing hardly any concern for the horrors it is inflicting on Palestinians and using its own citizens, namely the hostages, as scapegoats to promote its own interests.

This extremist Israeli government seems to have no interest in peace.

It is willing to take draconian measures to save its face and hide the fact that it has been morally defeated in Gaza, causing irreparable harm to the myth that Israel is the “only democracy in the Middle East”.

Awaiting the outcome of the peace talks, with mediators trying to narrow the differences between the two sides, it should be made clear to Israel and the entire world that there can be no enduring peace without a full recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to their homeland.

The Palestinians did not descend from Mars. They are the descendants of the Canaanites who inhabited Palestine long before the Exodus. For its own long-term survival and the redemption of the Jewish conscience itself, Israel has to reconciliate with the facts rather than the myths of history.  

Those who claim they care for Israel’s long-term survival should pressure Israel to end the war now and seek a political settlement. If it does not, we will see many more thousands killed and a whole region exploding.

Even if Hamas is destroyed, Israel will still pay a high price as thousands of angry Palestinians born from the womb of suffering will carry the torch of resistance as they march towards their own Promised Palestine.

Saadun Suayeh is a former Libyan ambassador to Malta.