As per today’s press conference, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, was asked about how long the Israel-Hamas war would last but he refused to give an answer. But maybe our expert panel has enough sources to disclose how long it would last whether will it ever last or if is there anything big hidden behind this initiated war by Anonymous.
1948: The Nakba
First of all, keep in mind the war or the trouble between Gaza and Israel didn’t begin after the October attacks. It was initiated after David Ben-Gurion, the founding father of Israel, proclaimed the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, establishing a haven for the Jewish community escaping persecution and seeking a national home.
Palestinians called tragedy of Israel’s creation as the Nakba (Catastrophe) that resulted in their dispossession and thwarted their ambitions of statehood.
In the fight that followed, half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine escaped or were forced to flee from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria as well as in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Israel contests the claim it forced Palestinians from their homes and points out it was struck by five Arab states the day after its creation. Armistice pacts stopped the war in 1949 but there was no any formal peace.
1967: The Naksa
In a war with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, known as the 1967 War, Israel produced what came to be known as the “Naksa”, which means setback or defeat, to the troops of the Arab nations, and to the Palestinians who lost all that remained of their homeland. The Naksa was a continuation of an initial central event that cleared the way for the 1967 war.
Israel, in 1967, occupied the whole of Palestine, as well as additional parts from Egypt and Syria. By the end of the war, Israel had displaced another 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, including 130,000 who were forcefully displaced in 1948, and acquired territory that was three and a half times its size.
Palestinian territory – containing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – has been illegally occupied by Israeli authority since 1967. The Israeli government, since then, has established a two-tiered legal and political system that gives comprehensive rights to Jewish Israeli settlers while setting military control and rule on Palestinians without any necessary protections or rights under international law.
Multibillion-dollar gas field
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), “Significant reservoirs of oil and natural gas have been found off the Gaza Strip and elsewhere under the occupied West Bank.”
The study conducted by UNCTAD in 2019 said, “The Occupied Palestinian Territory lies above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas wealth, in Area C of the occupied West Bank and the Mediterranean coast off the Gaza Strip. However, occupation continues to prevent Palestinians from developing their energy fields so as to exploit and benefit from such assets.”
Two wells drilled by British Gas, in 2000, off the coast of Gaza disclosed gas reserves estimated at 1.4 trillion cubic feet. 60 percent of those reserves belong to Palestinians.
The new resources of oil and natural gas were discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean which is valued at $524bn. However, according to the UN report, a substantial part of those assets will have to be sourced from within the occupied territory of Palestine.
During the recent G20 summit in New Delhi this September, the US and EU revealed their backing for a project to develop an economic corridor connecting India with the Middle East and Europe.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, described the project as it “a cooperation project that is the greatest in our history.”
“Our country Israel will be a central junction in this economic corridor; our railways and our ports will open a new gateway from India through the Middle East to Europe, and back,” he said.
Israel intends to become a significant exporter of gas and some oil. In the last 20 years, the country has been transformed from a net importer of fossil fuels to an exporter of natural gas.
Yoav Gallant, the defense minister of Israel, has said the objective is to “eliminate everything” and another minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said Gaza “must be smaller at the end of the war”.
The ultimate goal, however, is not only to eliminate Hamas but to exclude Palestinians from their homeland, and seize Gaza’s multi-billion-dollar gas resources.
Construction of Third Temple
After an attack by Hamas on October 7, Israeli authorities were able to wipe Palestinian and Muslims from the Al-Aqsa compound but it’s in whispers that now they have a golden chance to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the Third Temple for the third time since 70 CE when it was destroyed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
The religious desire for the Third Temple is sacred in Judaism, and especially in Orthodox Judaism. It is anticipated as the most sacred place of worship for any Jewish. However, the construction of the Third Temple has been contested by Muslims due to the existence of the Al-Aqsa.
Most of the clashes erupted between Israel and Palestine due to the sacred compound of Al-Aqsa and the area has likewise been a topic of noteworthy debate in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Most of the international community has abstained from recognizing any authority over Jerusalem due to clashing territorial claims between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, as both sides have claimed it as their capital city.
Conclusion
We hope that the war will soon end because it is not a good solution and it would badly affect the children of both sides. The World should find a proper solution to this ongoing war and from my point of view, a Ceasefire is the only solution that would give both sides a big relief and comfort.
The below views expressed belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Distinct Post.
