Israel: nothing changes
By Richard North - April 8, 2024
Yesterday marked the elapse of six months since Hamas-led Palestinians went on a murderous rampage in southern Israel, leaving 1200 bodies in their wake and taking back to Gaza with them over 250 hostages, of whom 129 remain with only about 95 thought to be still alive.
It is hard to think of a parallel of such events in modern history, although I am sure that there are some similar examples of such genocidal barbarity in the darkest recesses of Africa, and even now the situation in Sudan – to name but one area – is causing more than its fair share of misery.
It was the misfortune of Israel, however, that not only did it suffer this outrage, but that events in this country have an extraordinarily high visibility – not least because the country offers a convenient harbour for Western journalists, plus home comforts and communications facilities, permitting them to pontificate in safety about the treatment of Hamas and its largely supporting population.
Not only that, but the very existence of Israel, and its Jewish heritage, invite intense passions and trigger a polarisation in communities and nations, where the divides seem irreconcilable and more vitriolic with the passage of time.
Initially, there was some uncertainty as to what the precise nature of the Israeli response would be. Previous ground incursions into Gaza by the IDF had not been too successful, and Hamas had been adept in rolling out its “cry-baby” tactics, using its many allies to force a UN-mandated cease fire over the enclave, preventing the Israelis executing a coup de grâce.
This time round, however, the actions of the death-cult that is Hamas had been so egregiously horrific that, for a time the power of its sallow travellers and supporters was weakened, and the backbone of its supporters in the US and the UK temporarily stiffened.
This gave cover for the Netanyahu government to send in the IDF ground units to Gaza, with sufficient operational freedom to make an impact. Combined with new equipment and tactics, together with naval artillery offshore and multi-level air-cover comprising drones and manned aircraft, the initial forays into the northern part of the enclave achieved a modicum of success.
For Hamas, though, their main weapon was and always has been a well-funded propaganda campaign. As before, they stuck to the winning formula of provoking Israeli excesses and/or waiting for the inevitable mistakes that occur in such conflicts, then exploiting the results for propaganda purposes.
An early play came early on 17 October with an apparent Israeli airstrike on Al Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza, only for this later to be attributed to a misfiring terrorist rocket – but not before BBC journalists and others had rushed to pin the exaggerated reports of casualties on the Israelis.
The reportage of this event identified a significant bias in sections of the media and especially the BBC which had refused even to acknowledge that Hamas was a terrorist organisation – a stance which it maintains to this day.
In the months following, there is no doubt that an anti-Israeli bias in much of the international media – alongside the gullible and lazy journalism of accepting unchallenged the increasingly implausible Hamas-generated civilian casualty figures – has played a significant role in turning sentiment against the Netanyahu government.
Such has been the effect that, after multiple failed attempts, the non-permanent members of the UN security council managed to secure a cease-fire resolution on 25 March, following an abstention from the US and a turncoat supportive vote from the United Kingdom, under the tutelage of foreign secretary Cameron.
Nevertheless, Israel has had the good sense to ignore the vote and has continued operations in Gaza, only recently completing its clearance of Al Shifa hospital, the main healthcare unit in Gaza, which had been turned by Hamas into a major terrorist hub.
Inevitably, this has created considerable stress between the Israeli and US governments, with president Biden threatening to cut off of reduce its substantial military and economic support.
This stress has been exacerbated by an incident last week when the Israelis used drones to target a convoy which turned out to be World Central Kitchen aid workers, killing the seven occupants of three vehicles.
This, on the face of it, was another of those tragic mistakes which occur in conflict zones, not dissimilar to the US drone strike in Kabul in August 2021 which killed 10 civilians including seven children, after operators thought that their vehicle presented an “imminent threat” to US forces.
In that case, no action was taken against any of the personnel involved in the strike, and rarely has any action been taken despite the fact that, over term, nearly 500 children may have been killed by US-operated drone, with as many as 2,000 civilians killed.
This being Israel, though, heads had to roll – which indeed they did – although even UK politicians observing that the country was being held to a higher standard than other countries – and certainly higher than Hamas which continues its murderous ways with little international censure.
As it turns out, Hamas had more than a little part to play in the tragedy, after “suspicious activity” by a Hamas terrorist climbing intone of the aid trucks and firing into the air, attracted the attention of Israeli observers.
Later, after the aid truck had disappeared from view into a hangar, and then re-emerged, the IDF drone operators believed that what they were seeing were not the same vehicles, thinking that they were Hamas vehicles or that around four Hamas operatives had joined or taken over the convoy.
Thermal imaging was used to follow the trucks – unaccountably of the same type commonly used by Hamas terrorists and not typically used by aid workers – so the aid worker signs posted on the roof were not visible in the darkness,
Despite the complicated series of events, though, English toff Cameron – having never even been close to having to make such operational decisions – has no qualms about pinning the blame entirely on the Israelis.
“On this occasion”, he huffs, “there is no doubt where the blame lies: Israel’s inquiry has already enumerated the inadequate processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved”, thus pompously declaring: “This must never happen again”.
Cameron is hankering after “a temporary cessation of fighting” that, he says, “could be used to put the conditions in place to stop the fighting permanently and start a process of building a lasting peace”.
Wisely, the Israelis are ignoring this fatuous little man and, despite removing their troops, are leaving open the possibility of an incursion into the southern city of Rafah – while keeping northern and central Gaza cut off from the south.
While there is continued pressure from the US for a settlement, and threats to cut arms shipments, there is still nothing in sight that looks like a resolution to the conflict.
Meanwhile, given the deep-seated prejudice against Israel, and especially in Muslim communities, there is a part of the information war that the Israelis are never going to win.
For instance, a recent survey found 46 percent of Muslims in Britain saying that they sympathised with Hamas. Close to one in four (24 percent) did not believe that Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel on 7 October, with the proportions rising to 47 percent among 18 to 24-year-olds and 40 percent among the university-educated.
But the Muslims are not on their own. More than 600 lawyers and academics last week signed a letter warning that the government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel, contrasting with Sir Michael Ellis MP who notes that the UK supplies far more arms to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and many other “non-democracies”.
“How could we justify continued sales to Qatar, which actually harbours Hamas’ leaders, while refusing to supply arms to Israel as it fights terrorists?”, he asks.
But this is an issue which is slave to a blind, doctrinal approach to the facts. So when it comes to assuaging international opinion, Israel might as well not bother trying to make its case. When up against the might of its enemies, it has always been on its own on the front lines, and nothing is going to change.
