From Yaqoob* in India.
What’s happening in Israel/Gaza?
It was not as momentous as Sept 11 2001, but Oct 7 2023 will probably go down as one of the most terrifying days of the early 21st century. On Sat 7th October, Hamas militants staged an audacious and horrific attack on Israel, killing more than 1,000 and taking around 150 hostages. Most of the dead and hostages are civilians, including many elderly and children.
The Gaza Strip, from where the militants sprang their attack, is a fragment of land sandwiched between the Mediterranean and Israel. It is 12km wide and 42 long. On this tiny strip of our planet, some 2.3 million people live. Hamas has been the governing authority in the Gaza Strip for years. However, the vast majority of Gazans are not Hamas militants. Most are ordinary people trying to get on with their lives in very difficult circumstances. In fact, many ordinary Gazans dislike Hamas intensely, partly for their corrupt and inept administration, but even more now, because of the misery that is befalling them as a result of Hamas’ recent attack.
Human instinct for revenge
For as bloody as the Hamas attack was, worse will almost inevitably follow for ordinary Gazans as the age-old human instinct of revenge kicks in. In a reaction reminiscent of US bombing (and subsequent invasion) of Afghanistan in revenge for 9/11, since October 7th, the Israeli military have been bombing the Gaza strip in a way not seen for decades. Already over 1,500 are dead. Added to this, food, electricity and water are in short supply; a situation only likely to get worse. Medical supplies have all but run out, as hospitals scramble to treat the injured. The situation will quickly become a humanitarian disaster.
In the latest news (as of Friday 13th October), Israel has warned everyone in northern Gaza, including the 1.1 million residents of Gaza City to flee to the south within 24 hours, before an expected ground assault in the coming days. One can only imagine the awful moment of telling one’s children to pack whatever they can carry, as we must flee our home immediately. There is no certainty where we will go, where we will sleep, what we will be able to eat, nor in fact whether we will be safe from the relentless barrage of bombs.
For 2.3 million Gazans there is literally nowhere safe to flee. All land borders are closed – Egypt to the south, Israel to the north and east, with the Mediterranean itself to the west. Added to this physical isolation, is the fact that international sympathies, once divided between Israel and Palestine, are now, after the Hamas attack, solidly with Israel, with most western governments expressing solidarity, giving Israel an implicit green light to exact whatever revenge they see fit.
Suffering of ordinary people
Ordinary Gazans now await the coming vengeance with terrible fear. They face weeks or months of hell on earth – forced to flee but with nowhere to go, or if they cannot flee, to endure where they are with diminishing food, water and electricity, and the constant barrage of bombs.
In this context, and as a community of people standing with and speaking for the marginalised, let’s pray, not only for the release of the innocent Israeli hostages and families grieving their loved ones, but also for ordinary Gazans in their terrible grief and fear. Jesus asks us very specifically to care for the ‘least’. I would suggest, that after October 7th, ordinary Gazans are some of the most marginalised and ‘least’ people on earth today.
Ref BBC: Israel Gaza live news: Israel warns 1.1m people to flee north Gaza within 24 hours – UN – BBC News
Photo courtesy of BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67045078
