Moral dilemma in Israeli-Hamas war
The Israeli-Hamas war is now in its eighth month. On top of the some 1,200 Israelis killed during the Hamas raid on Israeli territory, and the more than 250 hostages still unaccounted for, 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 70,000 wounded. The buildings in the Gaza Strip including hospitals and most infrastructures have been leveled. Without the water and food supply, the remaining Gaza residents are facing starvation.
Governments all over the world are polarized and taking sides on this war, with most countries and their citizens objecting to the genocidal “scorched earth” IDF strategy/tactic of eliminating all vestiges of Hamas. This has led to anti-Semitism/anti-Jewish sentiments, which is also too sweeping as this war effort is mainly orchestrated by Netanyahu and his extremist allies. For government leaders in many countries, this war has created an economic and moral dilemma. Economic in that many countries have ties with Israel and the Arab countries, and moral in that as legitimate governments they mirror the aspirations and ethics of their people for life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Particularly, in democratic countries where citizens express their opinions freely, civil society and the students are voicing and demonstrating for the Palestinians or for the Israelis.
For an individual citizen far from the war zone including us Filipinos, we have the luxury of not being bothered by this moral dilemma or attempt to take sides. Only when our citizens OFWs are taken hostage does it bother us. An escalation of this war that will engulf the whole Middle East and involve the major superpowers, that will affect our economy and politics will make us realize that we are not isolated/insulated after all, and should have our voices influence our governments. Aware of these global consequences, government leaders all over the world are now moving/pushing for an equitable solution to end this war.
The United Nations passed this week a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state with possible admission to the UN membership. Most European countries are against IDF proceeding to Rafah and called for a ceasefire. The US is threatening to stop arms shipments to Israel, and the Arab countries are pushing for a ceasefire to prevent Syria, Iran, and Lebanon increasing hostile actions against Israel. The moral tide is now tilted favoring the Hamas/Palestine side.
It is speculated that the Hamas attack on Israel was a ploy to sabotage the warming relations of some Arab countries with Israel, as there is no way that Hamas fighters could overrun Israel. And nobody anticipated the extreme/overkill response of Israel’s IDF. From a military perspective, the only way to make sure Hamas never mounts an offensive again is to totally destroy their military capability. As IDF has wiped out 80% of Hamas armed forces, they might as well reach 100%. This is a false assumption/premise, as anti-Israeli sentiment will continue burning and will always be rebuilt in the hearts and dreams of the Palestinians. The only solution and a Christian solution at that is peace and reconciliation. The Two-State Solution is the answer.
The Catholic Church has waded and weigh in on this issue with the Pope calling for humanitarian aid/ solutions and call for peace. Evangelical Christians in the US which are mostly Republicans and Trump supporters are quiet or hedging their voices unbothered by the moral dilemma. The Muslims all over the world are all for Hamas, including those in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The Hindus, the Buddhists, and other fundamentalists are leaving it up to their governments to make a stand.