What Gaza needs is a prolonged era of humanity


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October 26, 2023

More than a third of all homes in Gaza have been razed to the ground by the campaign of Israeli air strikes that began after the horrific attacks by Hamas operatives on October 7 claimed hundreds of Israeli lives. More than half of Gaza’s population has already been displaced, at least 6,500 people have been killed. The statistics of destruction stretch far into the distance – with worse expected to come.

Aid agencies have become increasingly urgent in their messaging, with ever more stark warnings about what the future holds for Gaza, particularly as movements of emergency supplies and fuel remain fickle and slight. Current rates of delivery are far, far below what is needed.

The humanitarian situation is declining at an alarming and visible rate. The UN Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, said earlier this week that “without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance. No fuel will further strangle the people of Gaza”. Even for those who are far removed from the conflict, or who are still burning with anger over the circumstances that gave rise to this round of violence, it is impossible to miss the desperation of those words.

Gaza’s health ministry announced in midweek that more than 40 medical facilities within the enclave were out of service. Those hospitals that still have the ability to function are overrun with people who need urgent medical attention. “The wounded are everywhere,” one doctor in Gaza told The National this week, “they are on the floor, on the stairs and in the garden.”

Aid agencies have become increasingly urgent in their messaging, with ever more stark warnings about what the future holds for Gaza

Meanwhile, at the end of last week, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant offered insight into what the next few days might hold, with more than 200 Israeli hostages remaining in the enclave. He said there would be further aerial bombardment and tactical intervention on the ground to destroy Hamas networks, followed by eventual withdrawal from the territory.

Those words cast the operation as a near surgical anti-terror operation, when the reality is that many thousands of civilians are displaced and trapped in the enclave and human suffering is increasing by the day. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was preparing the way for a ground invasion. A limited number of Israeli tanks entered Gaza on Thursday.

Against this backdrop, the UN Security Council has made so-far futile attempts to draft resolutions calling for “humanitarian pauses, corridors and other initiatives”. The European Council has echoed these calls.

That is what might happen, but what should happen?

First, the so-called humanitarian pause needs to be delivered, then strengthened and widened. It is almost inconceivable that even this thin commitment to temporary cessation of hostilities and the delivery of emergency aid is proving so difficult to get over the line. Meaningful de-escalation is a minimum expectation for ordinary Gazans being collectively punished by daily strikes that kill civilians, degrade physical infrastructure and destroy material hope.

The perils of continued escalation and the broader consequences were outlined by former US president Barack Obama on Monday.

He said that the Israeli government’s decisions make for a “growing humanitarian crisis [and] could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies and undermine long-term efforts to achieve peace”.

Second, the release of all the Israeli hostages inside Gaza needs to be secured. Two hostages were released late on Monday evening on “compelling humanitarian” grounds, after multilateral mediation.

That is a start, but all should be aware that each human being who remains in captivity is a reminder of the terror campaign undertaken by Hamas three weeks ago and will be seen as total justification for the continuation of a broader military campaign. While hostage and prisoner exchanges have in the past been used to extract vast political capital, the price and consequences of continued detainment are too great this time.

Third, the side product of Hamas’s actions and the subsequent air campaign by the Israeli military have exposed the folly of existing policy on Gaza, which amounted to containment and control of movement.

The vast majority of the global population are too young to know anything but Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank. Most Gazans have known nothing but the blockade and repetitive cycles of violence. Mr Gallant’s words appear to imagine another version of “more of the same” for Gaza’s future, even though it is almost impossible to believe that could now be the case.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres this week described these circumstances as “56 years of suffocating occupation” in which land has been “steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence”, comments that drew an angry rebuke from Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and, in turn, a fierce rebuttal from the UN chief.

Socio-economic indicators for Gaza were rated as “terrible and alarming” well before this conflict began. Unemployment hovered at 45 per cent in Gaza last year. The enclave is now staring deeper into the abyss.

The only cures for the cancer of conflict are dignity, truth and reconciliation – all of which are in short supply. The past few weeks have, instead, been studded with anger, misinformation and deep division.

At a grassroots level there are tiny rays of hope.

Thousands of people gave up their time and their weekends to participate in Compassion for Gaza aid drives across the emirates. Similar initiatives are evident elsewhere in the world. People and communities want solutions, peace and justice, rather than conflict and injustice.

More broadly, however, a short humanitarian pause in Gaza needs to give way to a prolonged era of humanity.

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  • Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
  • Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
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Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates

The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.

ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.

ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.

DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.

Signed

Geoffrey Arthur  Sheikh Zayed

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Updated: October 26, 2023, 2:00 PM`