A full-scale war erupted in occupied Palestine when hundreds of Palestinian fighters entered Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders after a barrage of rockets was fired into Southern Israel from the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli military has also entered Gaza and fierce fighting continued between Hamas fighters and Israeli troops over the past two days. The Israeli air force has carried out retaliatory attacks against Palestinian government installations and residential areas resulting in 198 martyrs and 1620 injuries. According to reports, over 200 Israelis had been killed while dozens were injured during the ongoing battle between long-held occupiers and Palestinian freedom fighters.
The Palestine issue has been a burning topic of discussion in prime-time talk shows and scholarly debates in recent days after news surfaced about a potential Saudi-Israel deal for the normalization of their bilateral relations. A major breakthrough in Middle Eastern politics would entirely change the security and geostrategic environment in the Middle East and North African region. In fact, Israel and its Western ally, the United States practically pushed the Palestinians to the wall by containing them in an open prison under strict surveillance of Israeli Intelligence and unceasing incursion, and raid and search operations of the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza. Amid such a level of high-handedness with Palestinians, Tel Aviv tactfully isolated Palestinian authority through its diplomatic offensive for improved ties with neighbouring Arab states. After the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, the sole Jewish state is preparing to forge bonds with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the most influential and leading Arab nation in the Muslim world. The success of the Israeli mission would truly be a stab in the heart of Palestine cause and will ultimately lead to the final burial of the dispute.
As the civilized world including the United Nations, the US, the EU and Arab states have abandoned the Palestinians by putting the Palestine issue on the back burner, the Palestinian Muslims have lost hope in their neighbours, friends and the so-called advocates of human rights and democracy. The recent offensive launched by the Palestinian armed groups is seemingly an effort to sensitize the world about the frustration of the Palestinian people and the urgency for the resolution of the long-standing dispute in the world. Historically, the Israeli state has blatantly pursued its hegemonic agenda over the past decades and expanded its boundaries far beyond its geographical limits in 1948 through the illegal annexure of the famous Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai desert along with grabbing millions of acres of Palestinian land in the West Bank, and Gaza.
Realistically, continued injustice and suppression have caused grave frustration in Palestinian people who have now burst into violence and unimaginable resistance against Israeli occupation. The Palestine issue is the foremost longstanding dispute on the agenda of the UN Security Council (UNSC), which has not been resolved over the past seven and a half decades due to persistent non-cooperation of the Jewish state and its allies at the UN Secuirty Council and outside the multilateral global forum. Israel and the United States aim at disarming and depriving Palestinians of all civil, political and diplomatic rights using geographical containment, diplomatic isolation and political harassment so Palestinians won’t achieve their right to self-determination any time in the future and the long-held Palestine dispute dies its death.
Bereaved Palestinians have once again initiated another Intifada, to sensitize the world about their unrealized rights that have been ceased by the occupier state over the past several decades. The government and People of Pakistan have vigorously supported Palestinians’ right to self-determination, while the global community including the UN and Gulf states must review their policy on the Palestine dispute. The current upsurge in violence is a sort of protest by Palestinian people. If the global community fails to uphold its obligations regarding peace in the Middle East, the situation could turn worse and would be disastrous for all parties.
