The apparent target of the impending Israeli ground attack on the Gaza border town of Rafah is Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the murderous October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
But five months of carnage and destruction suggest that the Israeli government's real goal is retaliation. The campaign in Gaza has been, in President Biden's words last week, “over the top.”
That's putting it mildly. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in the counterattack and an estimated 80% of buildings in the northern part of the territory have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair by the repeated bombings. The vast majority of Gaza's more than 2 million residents have left their homes to avoid the relentless attacks, but the borders are closed and there is no escape, so for many their only option was to head south. To Rafá.
The city is now full of tents. Most of its occupants are refugees multiple times, as their families fled first from Israel itself and then from Gaza and the West Bank. The region is in the midst of a humanitarian disaster, and the lack of access to food, water and shelter exacerbates the pain and horror of violence and death.
United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said continued military operations in Israel could lead to “a massacre” in Gaza. “We lack the security guarantees, relief supplies and personnel capacity to keep this operation afloat,” he said in a statement.
As Israel prepared its large-scale ground attack, the United States was trying with other nations to negotiate a ceasefire that would allow the return of the more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas and a road map to a broader agreement. that would ensure the Palestinian state. Biden has attempted to use the United States' position as Israel's staunchest ally and supplier of much of its military arsenal to moderate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions.
But Netanyahu reportedly walked out of the talks and continues to humiliate Biden and mock the power of the United States to influence his actions. That leaves Biden in a bind. His best instinct is to support an ally, especially when he is under attack. But Netanyahu not only insists on continuing the destruction of Gaza; He rejects Palestinian nationality and any post-war future that includes a reasonable prospect of self-determination for the people of Gaza. That makes Biden and the United States parts of the unfolding disaster.
In defense against terrorism and support for allies, there must be a line. Now Israel has crossed it repeatedly. It is time for the United States to say “no” to arming and financing the destruction of Gaza, and to use its strength to bring Israel to the negotiating table, rescue the suffering people of Gaza, and stop the killing.
