It’s not about the identities of the groups involved. It’s not about regional politics. It’s a humanitarian & international matter, and can only be resolved as such.
Have you been watching the Israel vs. Palestine content online? The debates, shows, articles, op-eds, conferences – there’s no shortage of “intellectual” content on the war in Gaza, its causes, and future pathways from all sides.
Many people around the world are increasingly associating themselves with pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli camps since Israel’s invasion of Gaza. And if you’ve attended conferences or watched podcasts like this 5-hour Lex Fridman debate, you must be well-versed in all the arguments and counterarguments coming from both sides.
Having consumed this kind of content at large, I believe that all these debates leave us with nothing substantial; unless we are just seeking validation for already-held beliefs.
Especially as the devastation and death in Gaza reaches genocidal levels, these talks become even more meaningless. Every position about the war can be refuted; every fact can be cast into doubt, explained away, reframed, or “contextualized” to mean whatever the speaker wants it to mean. This does nothing but leave consumers of such content confused, agitated, and miserable.
We witness the ongoing horrors on one hand, while on the other, academics, diplomats, and journalists keep having endless discussions that provide no direction.
I believe that it happens due to the flawed frameworks that underlie these discussions. I argue that understanding the Gaza War from a humanitarian-international approach is the right alternative that could lead to progressive and practical solutions while avoiding the vicious cycle of anti/pro arguments. Let me explain:
The popular frameworks for discussing the Gaza war
In popular discourse, the war in Gaza is either viewed as:
- Hamas-Israel conflict limited to Gaza; a war between a state and a terror group.
- A continuation of 75+ years old Palestine conflict; a political and military conflict with violent outbursts throughout history.
- A violent phase of the regional power struggle involving the US, Israel, and Arab monarchies on one side versus Iran and its proxies on the other.
- And of course, there are explicitly racist and ultra-religious viewpoints that are not worth considering.
All these frameworks lead to debates upon debates and beget vicious circles of “who started first” and “who is the real perpetrator.” It forces you to go deep into the history, dealing with questions like:
- What if the Arabs accepted the UN partition plan?
- What if Hamas never got control of Gaza?
- What if the Oslo Accords were continued and implemented? Who is to blame for its failure?
- What if Hamas never attacked on 7th October?
When looking for explanations for the current war in Gaza, you can get drowned in the nitty-gritties of history, politics, and counterfactuals. Thinkers trying to maintain a “neutral” or “objective” stance often engage in such supposedly ‘academic’ dialogues.
But these attempts leave them stranded in a sea of information, misinformation, and disinformation. All of which bears no relevance to the current reality on ground.
Don’t get me wrong, these questions are important, especially if you have an actual academic interest. However, the situation in Gaza is an immediate reality, not a historical event (yet.) So every debate, conference, or article that slides into the historical and theoretical ultimately serves as a distraction.
A better way to unpack Gaza is to start from the actual human reality and end with international responsibility.
Distracted narratives can be remedied by grounding yourself in current human experiences in Gaza and understanding the role of the international system during the course of this war.
The Humanitarian-International Framework
Instead of drowning in a plethora of articles, books, facts and knowing all the historical and political events from all possible angles, you just need to know this:
- What are the people in Gaza actually experiencing in their daily lives?
- What is enabling Israel’s unchecked rampage creating those experiences?
Approaching the current war from a people’s angle (instead of historical-political angle) will help you ground your point-of-view in real experiences. Taking subjective realities into account will help you develop empathy and gain a more holistic perspective.
Meanwhile, understanding permissive cause of Israel’s invasion, namely, the failings of the current international system, will help you refocus your efforts where they could be most effective.
The human reality
Western media, which rarely takes up Palestinian voices, could not help covering the story of Khaled Nabhan, a Gazan grandfather whose house was bombed and grandchildren killed in an Israeli attack.
There are thousands of such stories. And regardless of whether the Western media covers them or not, social media keeps up with them. Anyone can explore people’s experiences by engaging with the unfiltered journalism coming out of Gaza.
And there is no need to stick to one side. In fact, it is worthwhile to engage with media created and uploaded by both Palestinians and Israelis in Gaza.
Gazan Journalists like Motaz Aizazia, and Bisan have continuously documented events and stories from Gaza since the beginning of the war. They have kept showing daily life experiences under constant Israeli fire. As per the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than a hundred journalists have lost their lives in Gaza, their deaths becoming part of the reality they were trying to document.
And yet it’s not only the Palestinians who are documenting the destruction on the ground. Israeli soldiers and Israeli-controlled media have also been recording their actions. They have shown themselves destroying homes, raiding shops, blowing up civilians, razing public landmarks, and committing war crimes.
As the Israeli soldiers gleefully flaunt the destruction they cause while the Gazan civilians bemoan the loss of their homes and loved ones on social media, the human reality starts to become clear.
The widespread hunger, destruction, death, and disease indicate that the people of Gaza are experiencing a genocide. They require immediate ceasefire and urgent humanitarian aid. This is their actual and real problem right now – not the history of the region, two-state solution, Islamist extremism, the legitimacy of Palestinian Authority, and a variety of other issues that become focus of Israel vs. Palestine discussions.
But how can you help a population when a powerful military as Israel is hell-bent on their destruction? This is where the international community was supposed to play a role.
The failure of international society
Since the Second World War, humanitarian concerns and international relations have become increasingly intertwined. The function of international order was to manage the supreme power that states have by introducing barriers to human rights abuses.
Granted the international system was never perfect; there were always powerful dissenters, and the international society has tolerated rogue elements many times. But in the light of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, it has totally collapsed.
Because, this time, it is in fact the maintainers of the order that have reneged on their humanitarian principles. By providing military, economic, and moral support to Israel’s invasion of Gaza, the West broke the rules of its own game.
The US, who leads the so-called “rules-based order,” actively protects Israel from the consequences of its crimes. As the prime actor that was supposed to ensure the functioning of the international order as intended, the harm its support for Israel has caused to the international order is unprecedented.
Maybe there isn’t any foreseeable solution to the larger Israel-Palestine issue. But there could’ve been solutions to the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza, only if the “international society” had stuck by its values of freedom, self-determination, and human rights for all.
The goal then, for anyone wishing to stop the ongoing destruction, should be to try influencing the powerful players of the international society.
Putting the blame on Israel, Hamas, Jewish extremists, Islamist Jihadists, the Arab World, or Iran etc., is convenient. But focusing efforts on the underlying enabler, the broken international system, can pave a way towards practical peace.
In conclusion, the war in Gaza is:
- NOT just regional problem
- NOT merely a political struggle between two (or more) groups
- NOT a religious conflict between Muslims and Jews
Of course it is regional, political, racial, religious, and all that — but seeing it primarily as one of these as opposed to a humanitarian-international problem will hinder any solutions whatsoever, and will only continue to produce fruitless debates while murder and mayhem in Gaza continues.
To help end the current war and move towards a long-term solution for Palestine, leaders should prioritize alleviating the human suffering in Gaza and rebuilding the international order with human rights and security at the center. Focusing on these aspects can bring us closer to the urgently-needed solution.
Hassan Ahmed
Hassan Ahmed is an IR graduate with research and writing experience in IR theory and great power politics. He previously worked as a research fellow at IPDS and wrote for The Diplomatic Insight. His published works include "Reimagining US-Pakistan Ties" and a Book Review of "War Without Winners."
