Fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip intensified last week with Palestinian militants firing rockets at Israeli cities and Israel carrying out numerous (disproportionate) air strikes on Gaza. With a good number of Arab countries in turmoil this latest escalation of violence in the Middle East is just another piece of bad news emerging from the region.

The violence was sparked off by the murder last month of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, which Israel blames on Hamas, but which the militant organisation has neither accepted responsibility for nor condemned. Ten days ago a Palestinian teenager was found dead in a forest in East Jerusalem in what was widely believed to be a revenge attack by Israelis, thus inflaming an already very tense situation.

The kidnapping and murder of the Israeli teenagers led to an extensive crackdown by Israeli troops on Hamas sympathisers in the West Bank, (which the militant organisation does not control) which in turn led Hamas to respond with rocket attacks from Gaza, which it controls. Israel responded, disproportionately, with an aerial and naval bombardment of Gaza.

An escalation of this conflict (and a possible Israeli ground invasion) as well as the possibility of a third intifada in the occupied territories would kill any hope of a revival of the peace process (or what’s left of it), so a sustained international effort must take place aimed at achieving a truce and getting Palestinians and Israelis talking again.

This fragile situation is unfortunate and comes only one month after Pope Francis prayed for peace at the Vatican with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas. The two presidents had not met for a year so their Vatican encounter created a bit of hope that tensions would ease and both sides would show a bit more flexibility.

The Pope had urged both leaders to show courage in seeking a peaceful solution to the situation in Middle East, saying: “Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare.”

Unfortunately, the Vatican prayer meeting did not lead to anything and today we are on the brink of a full Israeli assault on Gaza, more rocket attacks on Israel and the possibility of a long drawn out war between Hamas and Israel with no end in sight. The latest round of US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed last April and the chances of them being revived in this climate are obviously next to zero.

Israel has carried out numerous (disproportionate) air strikes on Gaza

Unfortunately, the continuous building of illegal settlements by Israel in the West Bank is a massive obstacle to a resumption of a dialogue between the two sides. It is a pity that the US has so far been unable to exert pressure on Israel to at least freeze the building of new settlements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to do this is not only humiliating for President Abbas but it also weakens the Palestinian President and strengthens the position of militant movements such as Hamas who see no point in negotiating with Israel.

To complicate matters further Mr Netanyahu made it clear he would not be talking to the Palestinians after Mr Abbas decided to form a unity government between his Fatah movement and Hamas, which Israel regards as a terrorist organisation. While Israel’s unease over Hamas is understandable, Mr Abbas has made it clear that the new unity government was committed to the peace talks.

The Hamas-Fatah unity government has been accepted by both the US and EU, so Israel should do the same, even if it has to eat humble pie. The fact that Hamas does not yet recognise Israel should not prevent Israel from talking to it, even indirectly; after all Ireland did not recognise British sovereignty over Northern Ireland until 1999, yet this did not prevent Britain and Ireland talking to each other prior to this.

Hopefully, the international community, in particular Egypt and the US, will be able to broker some sort of truce before the two sides get bogged down in an unwinnable war. Hamas was wrong to have attacked Israel with rockets, but Israel’s heavy-handedness in hunting down Hamas supporters in the West Bank after the murder of three Israeli teenagers as well as its bombing of Gaza – which has killed many civilians – is also wrong.

Both sides are now pushing themselves into a corner which will be difficult to get out of. What has Hamas to show for itself other than death and destruction in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks? What has it achieved by firing rockets into Israel? It has now said it wants prisoners released from Israel in return for a truce, but it is doubtful Israel will agree to this.

On the other hand, Israel has talked about destroying the rocket threat from Gaza; a difficult task considering it is estimated that Hamas has about 10,000 such rockets. Furthermore, the more Israel gets involved in Gaza, the more difficult it will be to get out of the conflict.

If the rocket attacks don’t stop, what will Israel have gained? And if this is the case, how will Israel sell its Gaza war to the Israeli public? Furthermore, if Israel decides to go for a ground invasion, this could lead to complications, including placing the peace process into a deep freeze. How will Iran, which arms Hamas, and Hezbollah react?

Both sides need to take a step back and re-evaluate their positions before they enter a spiral of violence which will be difficult to get out of.

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