One Year On: The Unhealed Wounds of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

By Isaac Smith, 2nd Year Liberal Arts (History Pathway)

Today marks one year since Hamas launched its shocking offensive into Israel. Since then, Israel has embarked on a vicious retaliatory campaign so far claiming the lives of over 42,000 Palestinians, with more than 10,000 still missing under rubble. 

Blockade, indiscriminate bombardment, and press censorship contribute to large-scale humanitarian crisis, whilst leaders of global powers continue to support, and fund its continuance.

Israel justifies collective punishment with the outcome of eradicating its enemy Hamas, but, at the expense of morality and international law, persists in physical and psychological violence against innocent, non-combative Palestinian citizens. 

Hamas emerged during the First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising in 1987 against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. It sought then, as it does now, to challenge Israel’s curtailment of Palestinian rights, restriction of movement, and land confiscation since the occupation began in 1969.

Hamas’s 7th October uprising tragically resulted in the death of over 1000 Israelis, with 251 abducted as hostages. Israel responded instantly with air force attacks in a display of extreme military force which is yet to cease.  

Bolstered by funding from its allies in the West, Israel’s military assault sustains a chokehold on Palestinian society. 

A UNCTAD report, published 12th September, explains 96% of West Bank businesses have decreased activity and more than 42% have reduced their workforce. In Gaza, 96% of agricultural assets, including farms and irrigation systems have been decimated, crippling food capacity.

Gaza’s GDP has plummeted 81%. Most citizens in Gaza were dependent on international assistance before October, today almost the entire population grapples with severe poverty.

Large swathes of civilian infrastructure have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip since October. It’s reported that 32 out of 36 hospitals have been damaged or raided. Now just 15 operate, though their functionality is severely impacted. The impact on education has been much the same, with satellite imagery verifying that 85% of Gazan schools have been damaged, many beyond repair. 

As the world looks on in horror, Palestinians experience the grim reality of what’s unfolding in real-time. The destruction and trauma that Israel’s attacks have caused in this year alone will take decades to remedy, though will remain indelible in the Palestinian memory. 

Problematic also is the hypocritical response of many Western governments. Senior U.S. officials, for example, have publicly encouraged Israel to minimise civilian harm but, despite evident abuse of this concession, the Biden administration provided Israel with over $12.5 million worth of military equipment through expedited ‘emergency’ transfers, bypassing congressional reviews. Quick to condemn and sanction Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. is more selective in its interpretation of international law when the moral questions are directed towards its ally.

Hamas’s attack, and Israel’s campaign since, reinstates in everyone’s attention the horror and inequity that characterises its history. With escalation and further regional instability already in motion, it’s hoped powerful world leaders take genuine steps towards reigniting a vision of peace, and that this is the sole anniversary of a conflict so shattering.