Gaza conflict - Israel needs to consider civilians

There are rights and wrongs on both sides in the current Gaza conflict. Israel was undoubtedly provoked, but its response has undoubtedly strengthened the hand of Hamas within the Arab world.

World opinion is being revolted not only by the slaughter of Palestinian civilians but also by the death of 14 Red Cross workers in one day this week. They were trying to help the wounded. Such events only hurt Israel’s cause.

Countries that were moving closer to recognising Israel diplomatically are now recoiling in horror at the slaughter in Gaza. History tells us that wars tend to develop a momentum of their own, and it is always much easier to start than to finish a conflict.

The current economic turmoil on the world stage could well provide an incentive for some to inflame or expand the conflict in Gaza in order to distract attention from economic problems at home. This conflict must therefore be stopped without delay in order to prevent it spreading.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon is in the Middle East. He has renewed his call for “an immediate and durable ceasefire”.

Both Hamas and Israel rejected the UN Security Council’s recent call for a ceasefire. The Palestinian toll exceeded 1,000 yesterday and about 300 of those were children. By comparison 10 Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians have been killed in the 19 days of the current fighting.

Both sides blame each other, but each side is perpetuating the conflict in its own interest. With their siege mentality, the Israelis feel that no matter what they do, they will be damned, and if they do nothing they will be doomed.

There are already indications that the conflict could be moving into Lebanon. A number of rockets were fired yesterday from Lebanon into northern Israel, and the Israelis returned fire with rockets of their own.

Yesterday, Osama bin Laden issued his first public statement since last May. He called on Muslims to wage a holy war over Gaza.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, to give Hamas its proper name, has been viewed with deep suspicion in many Islamic countries, but it is arguably gaining from the conflict despite being hammered in the fighting.

The Palestinian people are mere pawns in this macabre tragedy. They are being used by Hamas.

If only to ensure that they do not alienate those in the West who may understand and even sympathise with their motives in going into Gaza, the Israelis need to demonstrate a humanitarian concern for the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

They must allow the Red Cross to evacuate the wounded to hospitals outside the area of conflict, because those people cannot get the necessary treatment within Gaza. The Israelis are making a dreadful mistake in allowing themselves to be depicted as behaving in an uncivilised and barbarous fashion towards the wounded.