Al-Jazeera reported on Monday that Iran has confirmed it received a covert U.S. proposal for regional peace focusing on not expanding the war, as well as peace in region.
Iran’s said in response that it’s not our war but emphasized that allies in the region, like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, have the freedom to decide for themselves. Israel is hell bent to expand the ongoing war. The crisis is fast becoming a regional conflict.
Yemen’s Houthis group started targeting ships passing through the Red Sea. After the threat from Houthis, more than 100 ‘container ships’ declaring European ports as destinations have diverted from the Red Sea and taken longer African routes. Besides the danger of disruption, it has increased the freight charges manifold. This threat has resulted in forming a US-led coalition to launch ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ that would expand the conflict into the entire region. Hezbollah has also increased its military assaults against Israel.
Hammas surprise attack on October 7, 2023, on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israeli troops and settlers, put a question mark on invincibility and reputation of Israel defence forces. But it provoked an enemy for brutality and aggression which continues till date leaving over twenty thousand Gazans killed and a human crisis for over two million people in quandary. In retaliation, Israel launched ground attack inside Gaza on October 23 against Hamas.
The war in Gaza has displaced over 1.8 million Palestinians. Fighting has resulted in damage to more than 15 percent of the buildings in the Gaza Strip, including more than 100 cultural landmarks and more than 45 percent of all housing units.
War has killed over 20,000 civilians in Gaza, including over 8,000 children and 6200 women. Complete infrastructure including 22 hospitals, ambulances, doctors and paramedics killed.
Over 50000 homes are completely destroyed.
There is no power, no water, no sanitation, no telecommunications, no safe heavens, and 70% of Gazans are without food and shelter, which is a ‘war crime.’
There is an international outcry; the streets of EU, the Americas, and Asia are resonating with the voices of innocent people of Gaza. However, the UNSC could not agree to a ceasefire due to the US veto twice. An urgent call to stop Israeli bombardments is gaining momentum, but Israeli leaders with US backing are denying any pause in the war, which would cause more destruction and mayhem.
Global support for Israel is waning, and now Palestine has become internationalized following remaining in cold storage for many decades. The UN chief invoked Article 99 on Gaza in a rare/powerful move asking the UNSC to act as ‘the situation may aggravate existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security.’ On Dec 12, 2023, the UNGA overwhelmingly supported the humanitarian ceasefire as 153 members voted in favour, 10 against, and 23 abstained.
Many Arab states, Jordan, Bahrain, and Turkey, under intense domestic public opinion, recalled their ambassadors from Israel. Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia recalled their ambassadors, and Bolivia and South Africa have cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Malaysia has banned all ships enroute to Israel from docking at Malaysian ports.
Now, Israel is losing the EU streets, as former Israeli PM Ehud Bark said, “Rooting out Hamas will take a year, but already in a few weeks, support for Israel in the USA and Europe will crumble.
Domestically, extremist Benjamin Netanyahu is losing political support due to corruption allegations and controversial laws to control the judiciary. Despite the war on Gaza, the corruption trial of Netanyahu has started after two months, which speaks to growing concerns about his political loss. Al-Monitor in its report of Dec 19, 2023, reports that 70% of Israelis think that Netanyahu should resign over his failure to prevent the worst-ever attack in Israel’s history. According to the Central Bank of Israel, the war in Gaza is to cost about $52 billion, 10% of the GDP of Israel ($520b). CBI had $200 billion in reserves, but it had to sell $30 billion (15% of its reserves) to stabilize the Shekel (Israeli currency).
Half a million Israeli settlers have fled the occupied Palestinian territories; 80,000 people have been evacuated from Lebanon as a result of Hezbollah attacks, and over 200,000 Israelis have been displaced due to attacks by Hamas on Settlements.
After the war with Hamas, Israel is losing foreign workers, and presently, there is a shortage of 40,000 workers in the agriculture sector. This situation may further aggravate a severe food shortage if war continues.
The continued violence and destruction is a nightmare at the cost of innocent deaths. The continued conflict in middle east will bring global economy under pressure due to energy shortage.
