After the Second World War, Jews migrated toward Palestine from across the globe. In the beginning, Native Jews were three percent of the total population of Palestine. But the Jewish population in Palestine increased rapidly, especially after the Holocaust. The increase in the Jewish population in Palestine has led to human rights violations since that time. The declaration of Israel’s independence on May 21, 1948, marked the beginning of a bloody battle and the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Despite numerous attempts at peace, including the Camp David Accord, the Oslo Accords, Camp David II, and others, none of them succeeded.
Following this conflict, numerous Arab-Israeli wars ensued, such as those in 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and so on. However, the Arabs have yet to find a resolution to this dispute. In addition, post-9/11 wars, such as five in Gaza in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021, and 2023, took place, respectively. Following the 7th October attack by Hamas, Israel initiated a bombardment of Palestine’s areas, including Gaza, Ramallah, and the West Bank, under the flimsy pretexts of self-defenses and retaliation against Hamas.
As a result, Israel violated human rights brutally and slayed many innocent people, including women and children. Following the 7th October attack by Hamas, Israel mainstreamed the notion of Jewish supremacist ideology. The ongoing war between Hamas and Israel has become a global issue due to its impact on the world economy and human rights violations. On the other hand, the intergroup conflict between Fatah and Hamas also involves attacks against each other, resulting in violations of each other’s rights. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report reveals violations of international laws and human rights in the occupied territory of Palestine.
Following a secret meeting in Oslo, Israel’s Prime Minister (Yitzhak) and Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, signed the Oslo Accords in Washington, DC, in 1993. Under this agreement, both Israel and the PLO recognized each other’s occupation of the state of Israel and the West Bank and Gaza, respectively. The parties signed this agreement for a period of five years with the aim of preventing further human rights violations. At the time, this was considered a good step. But the next 20 years revealed that Israel used these agreements to expand illegal settlements in occupied territories.
President of the USA Bill Clinton, Prime Minister of Israel Barak, and Yasser Arafat met in a summit in 2000 to resolve the issue of occupied territories, but unfortunately, the meeting ended without any agreement, leading to human rights violations in the Gaza Strip. This meeting is known as the Camp David meeting. The failure of this summit was attributed to riots and Palestinian deaths caused by Israel’s use of tear gas and rubber bullets against them. In 2005, both parties agreed to manage the conflict, so in 2007, Israel withdrew its forces from the Gaza Strip, and Hamas completely annexed Gaza. Hamas began rocket attacks on Israel; in response, Israel blocked all food, medicine, and oil supply to Gaza, known as the Gaza Blockade.
Operation “Cast Lead” started by Israel against Hamas in December 2008, and it ended in January 2009. In this operation, 1440 Palestinians died compared with 13 who died on the Israeli side. In 2012 and 2014, additional conflicts erupted in Gaza, leading to an increase in human rights violations, while the international community failed to take appropriate action to rectify the situation. Between 2012 and 2014, there were 174 Palestinian deaths and hundreds of injuries. The situation remained the same till 2020. On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel with hundreds of rockets and killed 1200 of Israel’s citizens. Hamas named this operation “Al-Aqsa Storm.” In response, Israel launched missiles on Gaza and initiated airstrikes, disregarding human rights and the laws of war. Israel’s attacks have killed over 45,000 Palestinians, including women and children, to date.
Additionally, Israel’s attacks have claimed the lives of UN officials and press reporters. The people who are dying are not part of the war; they are innocent, but Israel is committed to giving collective punishment to Hamas, which is against international laws.
Israel disconnected the supply of food, water, medicines, electricity, and other essentials of life to Gaza. The Gaza blockade is causing many people, particularly children, to starve to death due to a shortage of food and clean water. Injured and ill people are dying due to lack of medicine and breakdown of electricity. The ongoing cruelty is caused by the silence of international organizations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the USA. Despite strong support from European countries and the United States, Israel remains unwilling to stop this war. The United States has vetoed a resolution in the United Nations that was about to prevent the war.
Similarly, the United States vetoed an application for a Security Council meeting to discuss the devastation in Palestine. People in Palestine are currently dying due to hunger and a lack of basic life necessities. The United States is providing Israel with weapons, bombs, and missiles, while simultaneously delivering food to Palestine via helicopter. This dual policy by the United States significantly exacerbates the current war situation. On one side, negotiations between Hamas and Israel’s delegation begin in Cairo, Egypt, with the assistance of the Qatari government, while on the other side, Israel continues to carry out airstrikes on Gaza. Children are currently experiencing malnutrition due to a shortage of nutritious food.
In summary, there has been a long history of human rights violations in Palestine. The State of Israel has the support of the United States, and Palestine has the support of Arab countries. However, the current situation has changed as Arab states are demonstrating their interest in developing bilateral relations with Israel. Therefore, the position of the Palestinians is expected to become more compact. Now Palestinians can make a social contract inside Palestine and Israel to maintain peace and security. While international organizations, European countries, the OIC, and the USA play their role to save humanity and to nip the evil in the bud.
