Israel-Palestine Conflict: Gaza 2014 - Essay Example

Israel-Palestine Conflict: Gaza Conflict and Number Paper Due Israel-Palestine Conflict: GazaConflict 2014 The Israel-Palestine conflict is a modern preoccupation that dates back to the nineteenth century. The conflict occurs along historical events regarding the land of Palestine in which Israel is perceived to oppress Palestinian Arabs. The recent conflict of 2014 between Palestinian militia group named as Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip is part of the continuing Israel-Palestine war. Israel seized the Gaza strip in the Middle East war in 1967 and pulled out its settlers and troops in 2005, but still retained control of most of Gazas waters, air space, and borders. Moreover, the Gaza strip is one of the main causes of the perpetual conflict between Israel and Palestine even although there are other underlying causes that revolve around political occurrences in Palestine, which makes the conflict a regional and global concern. Besides, the conflict in the year 2014 and the Israeli response on the same, named as Operation Protective Edge, originated from the unreasonable abduction and murder of Israeli children/teen agers by Hamas. Besides, this incident and its consequences prove that the Gaza Strip is totally under the control of Hamas, not under the PLO. This reflects the international opinion and response towards terrorism based upon religions fundamentalism. Thesis statement: The role of Israel-Hamas 2014 conflict in Gaza in culminating the problem between Israel and the proposed Palestine state, from the perspective of the historical events on the land of Palestine contributing to the conflict by analyzing some of the specific causes, players to the conflict, and its implications on international diplomacy in the Middle East and the impact of the conflict on both regional and global events, proves that Hamas did transform from a nationalistic organization within the direct control of PLO and the Palestine government into a notorious religious fundamentalist organization within the Middle Eastern context. Hamas’ political and military transformation from a terrorist group to the leadership in Gaza Strip First of all, Hamas’ political and military transformation from a terrorist group to the leadership in Gaza Strip is interconnected with the formation of Israel within the Middle East and PLO’s (Palestine Liberation Organization) transformation from a militant group to a strong political organization. The Hamas is an Islamist group that emerged in the late 80s leading to the diminishing of the power of PLO, which all along, Israel had not recognized because it regarded it as a terrorist group before agreeing to negotiate with it in the year 1993 (Celso 67-84). In the nineteenth century, a trend emerged in Europe where people began to demand national rights, self-determination and sovereignty. Thus, the Palestinians and the Jews began to develop a national consciousness and started organizing themselves to achieve national goals. However, since Jews were scattered all over the world, a Jewish National Movement (Zionist trend) sought for a place where Jews from different parts of the world could settle and thus, Palestine seemed to be the ideal region/place for this settlement since it was the place of Jewish origin. Thus, the Zionist movement started in 1882 with a group of migrants moving into Palestine at a time when Palestine was under the Ottoman Empire rule. However, the immigrants from Europe were more secular and determined to establish a modern Jewish sovereign Nation; they continued migrating into Palestine and before the World War I erupted in 1914, the Jewish population had significantly risen even though the Arabs still dominated the population (Beinin and Hajar 1-2). In addition, in 1928, Jews and Muslims started clashing over rights of communal religious at the western wall that is the sole remnant of the 2nd Jewish Temple and the most consecrated site of the Jewish religious tradition and Muslims who perceive it as the Noble Sanctuary. However, on August, 1929, a Jewish youth movement protested and raised a Zionist (Israel) flag over the western wall and fearing for their Noble Sanctuary, the Arabs responded, attacking Jews in the cities of Jerusalem, Safed and Hebron resulting to a week of communal violence in which many Jews and Arabs died (Beinin and Hajjar 2). On the other side, the Hamas leadership was not satisfied with the origin of a separate nation for Jewish population. During the beginning of the 21st century, Hamas decided to strengthen its military wing in the Gaza Strip and continued its fight against Israeli forces. To be specific, the war in the year 2014 can be considered as the end result of Hamas’ decision to continue its military aim. Hamas’ impact on regional events in the Middle East The conflict involved the Israel government and the Hamas militias as the key players. Their composition contrasts the two sides. Israel is a Jewish, military powerful state with UN recognition and has support from the United States. Hamas, on the other hand, is a Muslim group formed in 1980s with the object of fighting for sovereignty of Palestine. Outside Palestine and the neighboring Arab nations, Hamas has a tag of Jihadist, similar to that of ISIS as perceived by Israel and its allies (Halevy 30-32). Therefore, most of the causes of the conflict originates but are not limited to the historical events outlined above. First the conflict should be viewed from the lens of failure of the Oslo Accords to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state in the Gaza strip & the West-Bank. The accord did not alter Israel’s policy toward the Gaza strip in terms of building of settlements and control of important aspects of this area. Given that an Arab nation ought to have been established in the 1930s as stipulated in the UN partition plan and given the fact that the Arab nation was never established following a series of wars that Israel won, leaves the majority of Muslims resentful about Israel. Thus, they feel deceived and betrayed as indicated by the Hamas refusal to recognize Israels right of existence as a nation. In addition, the old feeling of the Arabs that Israel does not belong to the Middle East, given that majority Jews were immigrants from Europe who occupied Palestine lands at the expense of the Arabs still linger in their minds. Therefore, going by these facts, Hamas would attack Israel at the slightest opportunity (Hilal 1). Secondly, the conflict can also be looked at from the backdrop of the 2005 Israel’s unilateral evacuation from Gaza and its blockade on the strip, which it tightened after 2006 Hamas win in the Legislative council elections. Palestinians view the move as Israels attempt to separate the political structure of the West Bank & Gaza to allow it (Israel) focuses its efforts on colonization of the West Bank (Hilal 1). The offensive was the third in a span of six years, coming after Israeli’s attack on Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which challenged Israel’s deterrent capability. Therefore, Israel needed to reaffirm its capability in the Gaza since West Bank had been "obedient” since 2005. The first offensive by Israel occurred after the split of Fatah and Hamas and subsequent takeover of Gaza by Hamas and its (Hamas) formation of a government pugnacious to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Thus, Israel, given the opportunity would launch attacks against Gaza as part of a strategy to impart the consciousness among Palestinians that it is still in control (Hilal 1). Thirdly, given the strained relations between Hamas and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas sympathizer) following the overthrow of the latter’s government in Egypt, offered Israel a good chance to attack Gaza since most Arab nations were at that time preoccupied with internal conflicts and Israel thus, with support of the United States, most governments in the EU and existence of an enabling environment, Israel could easily attack Gaza for its own interests (Hilal 2). In 2006, Palestinian Authority legislative elections left Hamas as the largest party. The Islamic group does not recognize Israel’s right of existence as a nation. Subsequent to the elections, Hamas formed an administrative coalition with the moderate and previous ruling Fattah. However, in June 2007, tensions rose between the two parties culminating to an armed conflict. Hamas forcefully seized control of the Gaza Strip leaving Fatah administration in control of the West Bank. Thus, following Hamas seizure, the Israeli government imposed several restrictions on the Gaza, which disallowed the people of Gaza leaving the territory. Consequently, on April 2014, Fatah and Hamas announced a formation of a reconciliation agreement, which resulted to the creation of a coalition government after a few weeks with Jurisdiction over both the Gaza and the West Bank. However, although the coalition government has official jurisdiction over both the Gaza and West Bank, Hamas remains in actual control of the Gaza Strip. The abduction & murder of three Israeli youths in the West Bank was widely cited as the cause of Israeli and Hamas group conflict even though Hamas initially denied responsibility for the murders. Consequently, Israeli army invaded Palestinian-controlled regions purporting to arrest the suspects for the murders. However, this incursion by Israel sparked protests from ordinary Palestinians, which became violent resulting to several Palestinians being killed by the Israel army. Moreover, a Palestinian boy was also murdered in a suspected vengeance attack by Israeli radicals hence giving Hamas a justification to engage Israel in a war (4). Hamas rocket attacks on Israel marked the climax of the tension between Israel and Hamas. Therefore, Israel was forced to respond to the attacks; hence launched a big military operation in Gaza, which started with air strikes followed by ground intensive operations by the Israel army with major targets being the Hamas militia bases and the infrastructure used to launch air strikes into Israel. Specifically, Israel aimed at destroying underground tunnels stretching from Gaza to Israel (5). Hamas’ economic backbone It is interesting to go through the roots of Hamas’ economic backbone because this militant organization plays double role within the scenario of Gaza Strip and strengthens its economic backbone from the donations by the Arab world and international aid. To be specific, Hamas mainly depends upon the charity by different Islamic organizations in Saudi Arabia. One can see that most of the Arab nations are partially or fully against the existence of Israel with the Arab world. This ill feeling is exploited by Hamas because the leadership knows that Islamic organizations will support Hamas’ unending war against the Jew nation. Besides, Hamas makes use of the donations to conduct unexpected attacks on Israel. For instance, some attacks were in vengeance for attacks by Israel in what was partially seen as attempts to delay implementations of the Oslo accords, which was supposed to end by May 1999. However, the final status for the Oslo Accord did not yield a consensus between Palestine and Israel because Israel insisted on maintaining the sovereignty over the territories it had captured (Beinin and Hajjar 9-11). On the other side, Israeli authorities provided ample importance to the rehabilitation of the Jew population migrated from different parts of the world. Moreover, because of the increasing numbers of Jews who were migrating from Europe, settling and purchasing land in Palestine, the resistance by the Palestine Arabs escalated for that the increasing number of Jewish migrants would ultimately lead to creation of a Jewish State hence thwarting their aspirations for sovereignty (Beinin and Hajjar 3-4). However, the plan resulted to a few Jewish settlements falling within the suggested Arab state while thousands of Arabs from Palestinian side also fell under the suggested Jewish state. In addition, the plan by the UN postulated that the Jewish nation should be slightly bigger than the Arab state on the presumption that many Jews would migrate there and that the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem should be international zones (Ben-Dror 997- 1008). Earlier, the PLO authorities knew that the Arab world will be co-operating to free Palestine. However, the neighboring Arab States (Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Jordan) attacked Israel in order to “rescue” Palestine from Zionists but the war ended with Israel conquering more territories and acquiring about 77% of the region; Jordan occupied the hill country of Palestine (West Bank) and East of Jerusalem while Egypt occupied the Gaza strip resulting to the abolishment of the creation of the intended Palestinian Arab state. Moreover, the fighting resulted into displacement of Arabs from the Israel occupied areas and in 1967, Israel captured and occupied West Bank, Gaza and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt (Greenhut, Aker and Heller 111). So one can see that Hamas knew that the PLO cannot help them to attain their aim to destroy the Israeli state within the Arab world because PLO did not support Hamas’ extremism. From a different angle of view, Hamas makes use of the international aid to rebuild the Gaza Strip to buy more ammunition and to strengthen their military wing. For instance, the hospitals and schools constructed by the UN within Gaza are totally under the direct control of Hamas and are illegally used to launch missiles towards Israel. When the Israeli forces act against this, Hamas makes use of children and civilians as shields. When children and civilians get wounded or killed, Hamas claims that Israel is killing innocent people of Gaza. So, it is evident that the main source of Hamas’ economy is donations from Islamic charity organization and the international community including UN and world nations interested in rebuilding Gaza. Significance of the Israel-Palestine Conflict in the year 2014 in regards to the international relations of the Middle East One can see that the Israel-Palestine Conflict in the year 2014 resulted in the partial destruction of Gaza Strip by the Israeli forces. Besides, this sort of destruction, without considering the safety of the civilian population, resulted in the international protest against Israel. On the other side, Hamas knew that the abduction and murder of Israelis can result in large scale problems within Gaza. Still, Hamas utilized this incident to attack Israel because they knew that the same can help them to gain international attention and more donations. Besides, the UN and the prominent world nations criticized the Israeli attack on the people of Gaza. From a different angle of view, there are fewer problems between Palestine and Israel, but Hamas does not like this sort of peace because peace will limit their dominance over the people of Gaza. The perpetual conflict between Israel and Palestine (Hamas) is a matter of concern in the diplomacy of the Middle East. The offensive attacks by Israel are seen to have support of most western nations and in particular the United States as they are purported to be Israelis self-defense against the surrounding hostile Arab-dominated countries as was evidenced by the facts of the Israeli-Arab War where Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Jordan ganged up against Israel (Amnesty International 2). This means that the mainly historical issues underlying the conflict are lost in self-defense claims; consequently, jeopardizing the international relations in the war-torn Middle East region. Thus, there cannot be peace if the root causes of the conflict are not properly addressed. Secondly, diplomacy in the Middle East is in threat due to the conflicting parties’ breach of peace agreements. Notably, the crumble of the Oslo Accords and the 2013 US-brokered peace agreement that could have resulted into creation of a Palestine state is a clear indication that Israel disregards agreements with Palestine. However, the developments of the Israel-Palestine conflict set a precedent for other Middle East countries to deal with conflicts (Hilal 2). So, it is evident that the Israel-Palestine Conflict in the year 2014 deeply influenced the international relations of the Middle East because almost all nations within the Middle East began to support Hamas and the Hamas successfully gained international attention. Hamas and its affiliation to the global network of religious terrorist organizations and impact on global events One can easily identify the fact that Hamas is not under the direct control of the PLO authorities. Besides, the ultimate aim of this religious terrorist organization is to liberate the proposed Palestine from the influence of Israel. From a different angle of view, Hamas does not provide importance to international treaties and peace talks because the leaders know that the same cannot help them to gain dominance over the people living in the Gaza Strip. On the other side, most of the prominent world nations like US and Japan consider Hamas as a treat to peacekeeping initiative put forth by the UN. The military tactics made use by Hamas is similar to other terrorist organizations operating from the Middle East. To be specific, Hamas makes use of suicide bombing and similar military techniques to threaten Israeli forces. But in the year 2006, this terrorist organization decided to participate in the general election held within Palestinian territories. The world nations considered this initiative as the transformation of this terrorist organization from religious fundamentalism and terrorism to democracy. When the world nations and the UN tried to implement certain regulations and agreements related to the authority of Israel, Hamas leadership hesitated to co-operate. Later, the Hamas leadership proclaimed that they did decide to continue their fight against Israel. So, the world nations and the UN decided to discontinue economic funding for Palestine. This infuriated the Hamas leadership because future scope of the development of Palestinian territory was based upon foreign economic aid. Again in the year 2007, the Hamas leadership decided to limit their influence within the Gaza Strip. Besides, the Hamas leadership knew that their role within the governance of Palestine cannot help them to gain monopoly over the Palestinian military and to defeat Israel. Instead, their prominent role within the Gaza Strip can help them to prepare for a war with Israeli forces. Within this scenario, Hamas’ affiliation with other the global network of religious terrorist organizations and impact on global events is important. On the other side, Palestine relies on donations from the US, UN, humanitarian organizations and the neighboring Arab nations for survival. The war-damaged infrastructure; businesses and homes imply that donors from the region and all over the world will have to spend a lot in rebuilding the damaged Gaza. In addition, the war led to deaths, casualties and displacement of most Palestinians hence making the conflict a global concern which has generated and continues to generate conflicts between Israel, US, EU and human right groups such Amnesty International. For instance, the human Rights Council Resolution S-21/1 was adopted with 29 countries voting in favor; the US voted to the contrary while 17 other countries including all EU members abstained during a commissioning, which was aimed at investigating all international law violations, by both Israel and Palestinian militia in the Israel occupied territories including Gaza in view of the June 2014 conflict (Amnesty International 1). The Hamas leadership is aware that they can make use of the problems faced by the people in Palestine as a shield to cover-up their real aim. For instance, the Hamas leadership never provided any importance to peace with Israel and they used to construct big tunnels near the Israeli border to conduct surprise attacks over the Israeli territories. Besides, the Hamas leadership within Gaza provides ample importance to international relationship because they know that international support is utmost important to continue their fight. For instance, Qatar provides support and economic aid to the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Besides, Hamas makes use of international aid to strengthen their military wing. To be specific, the long tunnels constructed by the Hamas prove that this terrorist organization is strong enough to challenge Israel and to continue their unending fight. So, it is evident that Hamas’ affiliation to the global network of religious terrorist organizations can influence the future scope of peace in the Middle Eastern context. In summary, the Gaza 2014 war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas was a culmination of historical events that are centered on the Palestine land issue particularly the failure of establishment of an Arab nation following Israel’s occupation of the territories allocated for the envisioned Arab state over the years since 1948. Further, the failure of Israel to honor subsequent agreements such as the Oslo accords that would have resulted to the establishment of an independent Palestine state, and its blockade on the Gaza strip following its unilateral withdrawal constitutes some of the root causes of the conflict. The superficial causes of the conflict were killings of Israel teens by Hamas, the latter rocket firing into Israel and the subsequent retaliations by Israel. Besides, Hamas’ political and military transformation from a terrorist group to the leadership in Gaza Strip proves that Hamas presence deeply influence the regional events in the Middle East. On the other side, Hamas leadership knows how to gain international attention and economic support in the form of donations. In addition, the Israel-Palestine Conflict in the year 2014 in regards to the international relations of the Middle East proves that the same can create unending problems to the Jew nation in the Middle East because Hamas is ever ready to create trouble within the Middle Eastern context. Therefore, the perpetual conflict is a regional and global concern, and that jeopardizes international relations in the Middle East. Works Cited Amnesty International,. Amnesty International Public Document-Israel/Gaza Conflict, July 2014. Amnesty International, 2014. Print. Beinin, Joel, and Lisa Hajjar. Israel, Palestine And The Arab-Israeli Conflict- A Primer. Middle East Research and Information Project, 2014. Print. Ben-Dror, Elad. How The United Nations Intended To Implement The Partition Plan: The Handbook Drawn Up By The Secretariat For The Members Of The United Nations Palestine Commission. Middle Eastern Studies 43.6 (2007): 997-1008. Web. Celso, A. N. The Death of The Oslo Accords: Israeli Security Options In the Post-Arafat Era. Mediterranean Quarterly 14.1 (2003): 67-84. Web. Greenhut, Jeffrey, Frank Aker, and Mark Heller. October 1973: The Arab-Israeli War.. Military Affairs 50.2 (1986): 111. Web. Halevy, Efraim. Bring Hamas Into The Political Process. New Perspectives Quarterly 26.2 (2009): 30-32. Web. Hilal, Jamil. Gauging the July-August 2014 Gaza War. The Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Center, 2014. Print. Page, Rob. Gaza Ceasefire Agreement. House of Commons Library, 2014. Print. Read More