US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas meet in West Bank on November 5. Photo Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters
Ava Lindstrom
The America-Eurasia Center
The Middle East Program
www.EurasiaCenter.org
The America-Eurasia Business Coalition
www.usebc.org
Hope is Diminishing for Palestinians
as the Death Toll Rises above 10,000
An ambulance convoy is bombed in Gaza near al-Shifa Hospital that was taking patients to the
Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which the Israeli Defense Forces took accountability for on
November 3. Photo Credits: Palestine Red Crescent Society/X
For the second time since October 7th, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken
arrived in the Middle East to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war
cabinet on Friday, and with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in the West
Bank on Saturday. Despite the Biden administration’s continued urging for a pause in the fighting
in order to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
emphatically rebuffed these cease fire pleas, stating that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would not
stop their military operations until Hamas freed all hostages taken on October 7.1 Netanyahu says
Israel will have ‘security responsibility’ for Gaza after fighting ends. The next day, Blinken met
with Abbas to discuss the increased settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, as well
as the future of Palestinian governance, in whose development he hoped that the PA would be a
significant player. Abbas has called for the “immediate cessation of the destructive war.”2 Blinken
continued his Middle East tour, meeting with foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Cyprus. In Cyprus, Blinken also met with
President Nikos Christodoulides to thank him for helping Americans exit Gaza. According to the
White House, over 300 Americans out of 1,000 stranded in Gaza have been able to exit.3
Agreement was finally reached last week to permit foreign passport holders and some critically
injured Palestinian civilians to depart through the Rafah border crossing.
Colombians erase antisemitic graffiti outside Israel’s Embassy in Bogota, Colombia,
Oct. 9, 2023, Photo Credits: AP
Leaders worldwide have pleaded for an immediate ceasefire. Pope Francis delivered a
blessing at the Vatican on November 5 for the lives lost and those suffering. He stated on social
media, “I continue to think about the serious situation in Palestine and in Israel where many, many
people have lost their lives. In God’s name, I beg you to stop: cease using weapons!”4 Gaza is
“becoming a graveyard for children,” the United Nation’s Secretary-General António Guterres
warned. Violence against Jewish and Palestinian people has risen around the world in response to
the conflict. The corresponding rise in antisemitism in times of acute conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians is not an uncommon theme. Brian Levin, an extremism researcher and professor
emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino, stated that the attack on Israel by Hamas
on October 7 was “the worst single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.”5 Online and offline,
threats have surged, including bomb threats against synagogues and swastikas spray painted on
various Jewish venues. According to Community Security Trust, in the first four days of the
conflict, the United Kingdom saw a 300% spike in antisemitic incidents. There have been at least a
dozen pro-Hamas rallies in the US which government officials have condemned.6 Social media,
confusion, and some measure of historical ignorance on both sides have contributed to the
polarization between opinions on the conflict, a conflict with much more gray area than either side
would concede.
As violence continues in Gaza, Israel is accused of another war crime after taking
responsibility for bombing an ambulance convoy near al-Shifa hospital, attempting to bring
critically injured Palestinians to the Rafah border.7 Thousands of Gazans have clustered around the
al-Shifa hospital, hoping it would be a safe haven, despite the IDF declaring that Hamas’ main base
is under that hospital.8 In a statement, the IDF justified that attack claiming, “A Hamas terrorist cell
was identified using an ambulance. In response, an IDF aircraft struck and neutralized the Hamas
terrorists who were operating within the ambulance. We emphasize that this area in Gaza is a war
zone. Civilians are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southward for their safety.”9 People and
governments are responding to Israel’s actions in Gaza, calling these acts, a genocidal war,
including Brazil, South Africa, and Colombia. A spokesperson for the Palestinian Health Ministry,
Ashraf al-Qudra, informed the Red Cross/Red Crescent that those in the ambulance were civilians,
not militants.10 This bombing is another alleged war crime that Israel is being accused of, including
the continuous bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp and the UN school at the camp.
Multiple Israeli airstrikes hit Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, where there are some
116,000 registered refugees living. Photo Credit: Mohammed al-Masri/Reuters
Leaders from across the globe have come together to push forth a new two-state solution,
foremost among them United States President Biden. Biden has emphasized that it is crucial to
have a vision for the future of Israel and Palestine. Many scholars and world leaders believe that
this solution to be the way to bring peace after the bloodiest Israeli-Palestinian conflict in
decades,11 and the once-dormant two-state solution now appears to be back on the table. According
to Yossi Mekelber, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank, “There are no other viable
alternatives. The two-state solution is the least bad option to enable both Israelis and Palestinians to
fulfill their political, civil, and human rights.”12 With hopes from many Israelis that Netanyahu’s
tenure of office will be over after the colossal intelligence failure of October 7, what is lacking on
the Palestinian and Israeli fronts is strong leadership and governance. However, the prospect of
improved Palestinian governance appears bleak, as Hamas controls Gaza and Abbas’ PA rule of the
West Bank has been distinguished mainly by extraordinary corruption and little improvement in the
lives of the West Bank Palestinians in almost twenty years of an ostensibly four-year ruling term.
One possible replacement for Abbas is Marwan Barghouti, a top leader in the Fatah party and one
of very few who enjoys a reputation for integrity in the Palestinian street; however, he has been in
an Israeli prison for the past 21 years, and the rest of the Palestinian bench is woefully thin on talent
or popularity.13 Another possible successor of Abbas is Mohammed Dahlan, the previous Fatah
party security chief whom Abbas exiled to Dubai.
Protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Washington D.C. Photo Credit: Jose Luis
Magana/AP Photo.
Worldwide pleas for a ceasefire have spiked as the death toll in Gaza increases dramatically
by the day. While Netanyahu has stated that he has no intention of a ceasefire until the hostages are
released and has striven to project an aura of strength and sovereignty, it appears clear that the
Israeli government was caught flat footed by the October 7 terrorist attacks. Even three weeks later,
the Israeli government’s goals in Gaza appear ill defined beyond rooting out and eliminating
Hamas, massive civilian collateral damage notwithstanding. There is no question that Israel will
seriously damage Hamas in Gaza with this current military operation. It is equally certain that this
war and subsequent likely occupation of Gaza will never be accepted by the Palestinian populace,
despite their weariness of Hamas and its incessant terrorism and war-mongering. The purpose and
endgame of Hamas’ attack and massacres of October 7 are also unclear, as the current massive
Israeli response in Gaza should have been expected, although perhaps the apparent disregard for
civilian collateral damage has been a surprise to Hamas. It is also possible that this type of massive
indiscriminate Israeli response was actually what Hamas was trying to provoke. The Palestinian
populace is now in the cursed position of having as its primary, possibly only, military defender,
the very same entity, Hamas, that unleashed the events that brought this war to Gaza in the first
place. As this article suggests, how this war will end is impossible to predict. At a minimum, it
appears that only the removal of Hamas from the equation will allow for an eventual political
restructuring of Gaza, that would allow a two-state solution to have any chance of success. Far-
right parties on both sides have not brought the answer to the decades-long conflict. Will this war
end in the demolition of what is left of Gaza along with Hamas? Or will there be enough left of
Gaza to give these two peoples a chance to find a solution?
- Upright, Ed, and Christian Edwards. “November 5, 2023, Israel-Hamas War.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 Nov. 2023, www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-05-23/index.html. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Upright, Ed, and Christian Edwards. “November 5, 2023, Israel-Hamas War.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 Nov. 2023, www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-05-23/index.html. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Farivar, Masood. “Antisemitism Surges around World as Israel, Hamas Clash.” Voice of America, Voice of America (VOA News), 12 Oct. 2023, www.voanews.com/a/antisemitism-surges-around-world-as-israel-hamasclash/7306956.html. ↩︎
- Farivar, Masood. “Antisemitism Surges around World as Israel, Hamas Clash.” Voice of America, Voice of America (VOA News), 12 Oct. 2023, www.voanews.com/a/antisemitism-surges-around-world-as-israel-hamasclash/7306956.html. ↩︎
- Corbett, Jessica. “Israel Accused of ‘War Crime’ after Bombing Ambulance Convoy Outside Gaza Hospital.”
Common Dreams, 6 Nov. 2023, www.commondreams.org/news/israel-bombs-ambulance. ↩︎ - Najjar, Farah, and Joseph Stepansky. “Israel-Hamas War Updates: Israeli Strike Hits Gaza Medical Convoy.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 4 Nov. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/3/israel-hamas-war-live-israeli-forcesgather-outside-gaza-city. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “Israel-Palestine: Is the Two-State Solution the Answer to the Crisis?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Nov. 2023, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/04/israel-palestine-is-the-two-state-solution-the-answer-to-thecrisis. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “Israel-Palestine: Is the Two-State Solution the Answer to the Crisis?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Nov. 2023, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/04/israel-palestine-is-the-two-state-solution-the-answer-to-thecrisis. ↩︎
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