Geopolitics Review – 24th June 2024

Israel Updates – Part 1

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Since January

3. Rafah And Border Moves

4. Tensions With Hezbollah

5. Tensions With The International Community

6. Concluding Remarks

---

Bitesize Edition

• Since the start of this conflict on October 7^th, we’ve seen 38,151 Palestinians killed, 86,032 injured, and 1,139 Israelis killed. Gazan infrastructure has been destroyed, and aid isn’t being allowed in.

• The Israeli operation made moves into Rafah in May, casting aside the international outcry not to invade the region. Israel has its goals of removing Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip and removing any security threats, and they’re going to continue on this path until they’ve achieved this.

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also incentivised individually. His rule as Prime Minister is part of a far-right coalition that wants to continue the war. One party in the coalition threatened to dissolve the government if Netanyahu was to agree to Biden’s recent peace proposal. It’s the far-right that typically most strongly opposes a Palestinian state and supports the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. To uphold his political career, Netanyahu has swayed further right. He also is facing corruption charges so prolonging the war could prolong the ongoing trial.

• The war as it continues is raising tensions in the North between Israel and Hezbollah, and the international community continues to support the establishment of a Palestinian state, with 145 or 193 UN members supporting it. Even tensions are rising between Biden and Netanyahu. This week I’ll provide updates on the conflict and the rising tensions with many actors. Let’s get started with today’s piece.

---

Introduction

I concluded my series on Israel-Palestine and Israel-Hamas in December 2023. Much has changed since then, and so it’s time for a refresher on what’s occurred and potential scenarios for where we could be heading next. With the conflict being covered heavily in the media, it can be difficult to cut through the noise. Luckily, Netanyahu says everything he intends to do quite frequently, and if nobody more powerful seeks to limit these plans of Israel and Netanyahu, it’s likely this conflict will continue much longer. Let’s dive in.

---

Since January

We saw an indiscriminate Israeli bombing campaign before its ground invasion commenced on October 27^th. The goal of destroying Hamas has seen 38,151 Palestinians killed and 86,032 people injured. These figures are from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and are tracked by Al Jazeera here.

60% of residential buildings, 88% of schools, 80% of commercial facilities and 267 places of worship have been damaged. 17 of 35 hospitals are partially functional, and Israel controls aid into the Gaza Strip as seen by many aid packages being blocked from entering Gaza. The UN said it’s up to Israel to restore aid to Gaza, with many nations now not seeing the use in even sending aid that won’t ever enter the Gaza Strip. This supports the point that Israel controlling necessities in Gaza is one of the problems faced in this conflict and before it. It’s unimaginable for many reading this to not have access to food and clean water, but that is an everyday reality for the Palestinians, and it’s a choice Israel makes.

Photo by mohammed al bardawil on Unsplash

It’s argued that Palestinians are dehumanized by Israelis, and there now exists stacks upon stacks of evidence for this. 88% of schools destroyed is a shocking figure, and yes, it’s known that Hamas fighters are hiding amongst the general population in Palestine. However, Israel decides the best strategy to remove these operatives is to indiscriminately bomb civilians further enforcing their dehumanisation of Palestinians.

Throughout the end of 2023 and into the first few months of 2024, Israel continued its ground operation in Khan Yunis, Jabalia, and Shejaiya. It’s these moves further south that forced Palestinians to move towards Rafah seeking safety.

By February, we were seeing Israel prepare for this invasion of Rafah by firing at Palestinians seeking food and aid because the Israeli soldiers with the guns felt threatened. Again, things don’t seem to add up here.