Death, destruction, despair: Israel’s war with Hamas reaches the six-month mark with no end in sight

It has been six months since Israel launched a deadly offensive against Hamas in Gaza, since the Palestinian group attacked the Jewish southern region on October 7 last year. In the interim, with much of Gaza reduced to rubble, Israel has declared two goals – to “annihilate” Hamas and bring the hostages home. But six months later, neither goal has been achieved.

Israel initially enjoyed support from its allies but is now isolated internationally after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, the worst since the Holocaust.

It has faced criticism from the West and its allies, including the United States, over the large number of civilian deaths. More than 33,000 people have died since the war began. There is also a backlash over the lack of a viable plan on how to end the war and what the future holds for the region.

Netanyahu faces international pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international calls for an independent Palestinian state, a position he has maintained for decades. He initially argued that delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza would mean a regrouping of Hamas.

While humanitarian aid was allowed to flow in bulk after the United Nations intervened, Netanyahu faces growing pressure from the United States and other countries to stop the war and ensure aid reaches Gaza. Gaza has been facing a humanitarian crisis since fighting broke out.

The United Nations’ world court, the International Court of Justice, is investigating allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and has ordered the Jewish people to do more to protect Gaza civilians.

Despite international pressure, Netanyahu remains resolute and plans an offensive against the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Hamas’s last known stronghold. More than a million people fled from other areas of the Las Vegas Strip to live in Rafah. The planned offensive has heightened fears of more civilian casualties.

humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Gaza, a small territory on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean that has been ruled by Hamas since 2007, is facing a humanitarian crisis. About a third of Gaza’s population is at risk of famine, according to experts and the United Nations.

The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Israel has sealed all borders with Gaza and claims that if they remain open, it will help Hamas economically, allowing it to regroup and mount a comeback. Most Palestinians have fled Gaza through the Rafah border with Egypt.

Recently, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved the reopening of the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.

No postwar vision, truce talks achieve breakthrough

Israel has yet to present a viable postwar vision to its allies, and ceasefire talks remain stalled. The United States, committed to a two-state solution, has suggested that the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, also take control of Gaza.

Netanyahu has laid out a vague vision for post-war Gaza, calling for indefinite Israeli control of the territory and for local Palestinian partners to oversee day-to-day affairs in Gaza. While Netanyahu clarified that Israel has no plans to militarily occupy Gaza, Israel’s post-war plans have been rejected by the Palestinian Authority.

Apart from the ceasefire negotiations reached at the end of November last year, no significant progress has been made yet. Israel and Hamas reached a truce brokered by Qatar and Egypt that released more than 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, fueling hopes of an early end to the war.

However, the agreement collapsed as Israel resumed fighting in Gaza. As the war intensified, some 130 hostages were believed to be alive and being held by Hamas in Palestinian enclaves. Hamas has repeatedly argued that it would release all hostages only if Israel halted its attacks, a position Netanyahu’s government has rejected.

The aftermath of the war between Israel and Hamas

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, there has been a risk that its consequences will spread to other parts of the Middle East. First, Israel faced a challenge from Lebanon’s Hezbollah on its northern border, and the two sides have been at war ever since.

Tensions threaten Hezbollah-backing Iran’s involvement in the conflict, especially in the wake of Israeli attacks in Syria and Lebanon. Most recently, two Iranian generals were killed in Israeli attacks this week.

There are tensions not only on land but also at sea. The Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have launched drone attacks in the Red Sea on merchant ships with ties to Israel.

The attack, in protest of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, caused several ships to divert around the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez Canal, resulting in increased sailing times.

Increasingly isolated

Although Israel’s allies supported the Jewish state when Hamas attacked it on October 7, that support turned to resentment, with Western countries, especially the United States, calling on Israel to scale back its offensive due to the high number of deaths.

This isolation and frustration came to a head when the United States abstained from a vote on March 25 on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages. The resolution was later adopted, a move that angered Israel, which said the United States had abandoned its policy at the United Nations.

For Israel, the situation got worse after seven aid workers were killed in what Israel called a mistaken airstrike. Six of the seven workers were from countries allied to Israel, angering Western countries including the United States.

Not only that, Israel’s possible attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria and Netanyahu’s call to shut down the Al Jazeera news channel have further isolated allies. Iran has vowed massive retaliation for the attack on its embassy in Syria, a development that has heightened tensions in the Middle East.

So to sum up the six months of war so far, there has been nothing but death, destruction and despair.