Middle East conflict is not an even fight
Conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has a long, bloody, and sad history. It is an old, intractable, enmity that has remained unsolved and left to fester. The new eruption in violence is breaking new ground in a tragic way.
Days of bombardment have killed at least 130 Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas has blasted about 2300 rockets into Israel, and 10 Israelis have been killed. About 1000 rockets have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system.
Sparked by tensions in Jerusalem over the past month, this is the biggest crisis between the two sides in seven years, causing fear and danger for ordinary Gazans and Israelis in border areas alike.
A combination of Palestinian protests against home evictions, Israeli police measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Hamas rockets directed at the city, lit the match.
This time, there has also been mob violence between groups of Jewish and Arab Israelis in some Israel towns. Israeli Arabs make up about a fifth of the state’s population.
Ten Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in West Bank protests. Gaza rockets have reached Tel Aviv. A refugee camp and media centre in Gaza have been struck.
There was also a firing incident across the border with Lebanon.
Although the conflict has been perceived as a tribal stoush for decades, it’s not on equal footing.
Israel is a nuclear-armed Middle East heavyweight with GDP of US$394 billion in 2019, according to the World Bank. Its biggest backer is the United States which is supplying US$3.9b in mostly military aid this year.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 14 years, to try to starve Hamas of resources, and has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 war.
The territory is home to about 650,000 Israeli settlers.
Although US President Joe Biden has resumed US support for a two-state solution and US$235 million in aid to the Palestinians, the US traditionally protects its ally. Biden said on Saturday “there has not been a significant overreaction” in Israel’s response.
But younger progressive members of his party are not on the same page, and Human Rights Watch recently likened Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to apartheid.
As an important regional power, Israel could choose to develop a more mature leadership approach rather than a predominantly defensive, militaristic one.
Instead, the relationship is generally seen through military objectives, which stamp all over what is in essence a political problem.
For now, regular cycles of violence keep renewing old hostility and distrust.