In March this year, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva passed four resolutions on the question of Palestine, and the United States was the sole “no” vote in every single case. As of 2013, Israel had been condemned in 45 resolutions by United Nations Human Rights Council since its creation in 2006—the Council had more resolutions condemning Israel than on the rest of the world combined. In total, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed along with 20 Israelis — 18 of whom were soldiers — during the two-week offensive targeting Hamas. The members of the Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities early this week. But the UN is an ineffective shell of an organization that has not been able to soften the damage to Palestinians, much less solve the problem of the Israeli invasion since 1948.
The strip of land that is Gaza is walled off from one side by Egypt and on the other by Israel. When Israelis attack they send a small bomb, as a warning for civilians to evacuate. And then after three minutes the bombardment starts. The cumulative number of IDPs has exceeded 100,000, from a population of 1.8 million. These 1.8 million live in a 360 km square strip of land. Gaza is only one-third the size of Lahore. Where are the Palestinians to evacuate to? The Israeli Defense Forces have carried out strikes against 53 “terror sites” on Sunday, destroying homes, mosques and civilian lives.
US Secretary of State John Kerry met on Tuesday with Egyptian and Arab League officials in Cairo. Egyptian and Arab League officials have urged Hamas to accept a cease-fire, and then enter dialogue to discuss its broader concerns. Hamas rejected the first cease-fire proposed; they wanted a broad deal including the release of recently detained Palestinians and the easing of border restrictions. Hamas would like some concessions after such damages. In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a collection of rockets that had been fired into Israel, and Ban was “shocked”. He has since then regained his composure, it seems, and the UN has called for an immediate ceasefire. Netanyahu, however, argued that there’s little Israel can do. “What grievance can we solve for Hamas?” he said. “Their grievance is that we exist.” Israel will not stop. And worse, there’s no one to make them.