Thousands of Palestinians marked Nakba day on Thursday last week, commemorating the loss of their land after the 1948 war at the birth of the State of Israel, as the latest Israeli military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have again displaced hundreds of thousands.
Palestinians are living under death threats and like slaves on their own lands as the Israeli military has occupied more of their lands than ever in the history.
They are killed brutally, they are subject to violent attacks, their children are being killed daily and there are children who have not seen their parents in their entire life time. The United Nations and International Criminal Court have become useless.
There is nobody to stop Israelis from killing Palestinians. The Nakba or “catastrophe”, has been one of the defining experiences for Palestinians for more than 75 years, helping to shape their national identity and casting its shadow on their conflicted relationship with Israel ever since.
Hundreds of thousands of descendants of Palestinians have lost their homes in 1948 and have lived for decades in West Bank refugee camps where the Israeli Army has begun a months-long campaign. The war has destroyed large swathes of Gaza and forced most of the more than two million people who live there to move multiple times, clinging on in tents or bombed-out houses and other makeshift shelters.
Occupied by force
In 1948, neighbouring Arab States attacked Israel a day after the new State declared its Independence following the withdrawal of British forces from what was then called Palestine.
That fighting lasted for months and cost thousands of lives, with more than 700,000 Palestinians fleeing their homes or driven away from over 400 villages in what is now Israel, most into makeshift camps like those now occupied by the displaced of Gaza. And the displacement has been part and parcel of Palestinians’ life since then amid violent atrocities and brutal killings by Israeli forces from time to time.
Israel’s latest campaign in Gaza, launched in retaliation for the devastating Hamas attack on Southern Israel on October 7, 2023 has been one of the longest, and certainly the most bloody in its history, leaving much of the Gaza Strip barely habitable. After a two-month truce, Israel resumed its operation in Gaza in March, squeezing the population into an ever-narrowing area against the coast.
According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory), 70 percent of Gaza is now within the no-go areas set up along the edges of the enclave or in areas under displacement orders by the military and more than 436,000 people have been displaced since March.
In the West Bank too, Palestinians have been facing growing pressure as Israeli settler violence and the military operations in Northern cities such as Jenin and Tulkarm have forced tens of thousands from their homes. According to the United Nations figures, more than 40,000 people in the West Bank have been displaced since the start of the operation, a situation the OCHA says could amount to forcible transfer, defined as a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
The suffering of the Palestinian people has deep historical roots, dating back to the early 20th century with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, in which Britain pledged support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine—then under Ottoman control.
This marked the beginning of a century-long conflict between the indigenous Arab population and Zionist settlers. Since the 1948, Palestinians have lived under military occupation, in refugee camps, or as stateless people without a homeland. The 1967 Six-Day War further worsened their plight as Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.
This led to decades of land annexation, illegal settlements, checkpoints, house demolitions, and blockades—stripping Palestinians of their dignity, freedom, and identity.
The worst violence
The latest phase of violence – especially since October 2023 – is considered one of the deadliest for Palestinians. Following the Hamas’s attack on Southern Israel, Israel responded with indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing over 35,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and displacing more than 1.5 million people. Entire neighbourhoods were wiped out. Hospitals, schools, mosques, and refugee camps were bombed despite their protected status under international law.
The scale of devastation, the use of banned weapons like white phosphorus, and the total siege on Gaza – blocking food, water, fuel, and medical aid – have led international human rights organisations to accuse Israel of committing war crimes and even genocide. The unprecedented scope, brutality, and disregard for civilian life have made this round of violence among the most catastrophic for Palestinians in recent memory.
However, the so-called global influential decision makers have deliberately decided to close their eyes not to see violence against Palestinians, close their ears not to hear anything bad about Israel, and close their mouths not to speak for the justice of Palestinians. Despite immense pressure, some global voices have spoken out.
The United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have all condemned the use of excessive force, the targeting of civilian infrastructure, and the collective punishment of Palestinians. UN Secretary-General António Guterres criticised Israel’s actions as “clear violations of international humanitarian law.”
Globally, citizens across the U.S., UK, France, Germany, South Africa, and even Israel itself have taken to the streets in millions, calling for a ceasefire, an end to occupation, and justice for the Palestinian people.
South Africa even filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023, marking a historical moment in legal resistance. Influential figures such as Roger Waters, Malala Yousafzai, Naomi Klein, and Noam Chomsky have spoken out forcefully, alongside Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace who reject the Israeli Government’s actions in their name.
Rights abuses and killings
The state of human rights in Palestine is abysmal. Palestinians, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, face arbitrary arrests, torture, checkpoints, home demolitions, settler violence, and lack of access to justice. According to human rights groups, children as young as 12 are arraigned in military courts with conviction rates above 95 percent.
Palestinians have limited freedom of movement, and in Gaza, they are essentially trapped in an open-air prison under a 17-year Israeli blockade. The most horrifying element is the indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Thousands of children have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, often while sleeping, attending school, or seeking refuge in UN shelters. Targeting hospitals and ambulances has become a recurring tactic.
Palestinians in the West Bank also face daily violence from settlers and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), often without consequences. The response from Islamic countries has been loud in condemnation but weak in coordinated action something similar to No Action, Talk Only (NATO) While countries such as Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Qatar, and Pakistan have voiced strong disapproval and organised protests, actual political and economic pressure on Israel remains limited. Some, like Iran, have supported Hamas as a form of “resistance,” while Qatar has attempted mediation efforts.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued statements and held emergency meetings, but internal divisions—especially among Gulf states like the UAE and Saudi Arabia that had normalised relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords—have made a united front difficult. Economic boycotts, oil leverage, and diplomatic sanctions—powerful tools at their disposal—remain largely unused.
Western duplicity
The Western duplicity on the Palestine issue is stark. While the U.S., UK, and EU champion democracy, human rights, and international law elsewhere, especially in Ukraine, Sudan, or Syria, they remain complicit in Israel’s violations.
The U.S. provides the weapons used to bomb Gaza while vetoing ceasefire calls. The UK sells arms to Israel while denouncing human rights abuses in Iran or China.
European nations fund UN relief efforts for Palestinians, only to maintain economic and military ties with the occupier. This double standard undermines the moral authority of the West and reinforces the perception of a global apartheid—where some lives matter more than others.
It also alienates millions of people across the Muslim world, Africa, and Latin America, who see Western powers as hypocrites more interested in strategic alliances than genuine justice. Israel is a key ally in the Middle East and a crucial partner for intelligence, technology, and arms trade. The U.S. alone provides over $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel.
In Europe, historical guilt over the Holocaust also plays a role, creating a moral hesitation to criticise Israel. Islamophobia, media bias, and lobbying pressure from pro-Israel organisations in Western countries contribute to the lack of urgency.
Even when war crimes are evident, many leaders avoid using strong language or supporting punitive measures like sanctions or arms embargoes.
Israel’s arrogance
Israel’s blatant disregard for international law, UN resolutions, and even International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders stems from a combination of military superiority, U.S. diplomatic protection, and domestic political ideology.
Over 45 UN resolutions have condemned Israeli occupation, settlement activity, and aggression, yet none have been enforced due to vetoes by the U.S. in the Security Council. Domestically, far-right politicians such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have stoked nationalism and anti-Arab sentiments.
The Israeli political landscape has shifted towards a hardline, messianic ideology that views Palestinian land as biblical inheritance. This has emboldened policies of annexation and ethnic cleansing.
The belief that Israel can act with impunity stems from decades of zero accountability, even after massacres like Sabra and Shatila, Jenin, or Gaza bombings in 2008, 2014, and 2023. Israel’s aggression towards Palestinians is not just a regional issue. It poses a global security threat. It fuels radicalisation, anti-Western sentiments, and terrorism. The occupation and violence have been used as justification for attacks and recruitment by extremist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and others.
Prolonging this conflict feeds instability in the Middle East, undermining regional cooperation and increasing the risk of a wider war. Moreover, Israel’s ability to defy international law sets a dangerous precedent. If one state can massacre civilians, annex land, and destroy UN facilities without consequence, others may follow.
It weakens the international legal system and erodes norms of humanitarian protection, making the world less safe for all. The only sustainable solution is a just, negotiated peace that addresses the root causes of the conflict: occupation, displacement, apartheid policies, and statelessness. A two-State solution, based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, remains the most internationally supported model.
However, Israel’s settlement expansion has made this increasingly unviable. Alternatives include a bi-national democratic State with equal rights for Jews and Palestinians or an international trusteeship over disputed territories until a permanent solution is agreed upon.
Regardless of the framework, essential steps include ending the blockade of Gaza, dismantling illegal settlements, recognising Palestinian sovereignty, and allowing the right of return for refugees.
International pressure, economic sanctions, and boycotts (such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement) could be crucial levers for change.
