Today, November 7, 2023, marks exactly one month of unrest; thirty whole days of sustained hostilities, destruction and heartaches.
The ongoing conflict has spurred varied reactions globally, from calls for immediate ceasefires and diplomatic negotiations to vehement assertions of the right to self-defense and territorial sovereignty.
Amid the chaos and destruction, are lives caught in the war’s unyielding grip.
While some efforts are being made to mediate and seek solutions, the human toll continues to mount, with thousands displaced and infrastructure decimated, perpetuating an enduring cycle of trauma and despair.
A month in, the war on Gaza has killed more than 10,022 people in the besieged enclave and left 25,408 people wounded; a ghastly milestone.
Not to mention the hundreds still reported to be buried under the rubble.
“This defies humanity” was the message sent out by the UN relief chief Martin Griffiths in a post on X.
In Jerusalem, Israelis held a vigil on Monday evening to mark 30 days since the Hamas attack on Israel in which 1,400 people were killed, with a candle lit for each victim.
Relatives of the dead gathered at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall to mark a month of mourning.
In just one month, 70 percent of Gaza Strip’s population has already been displaced.
Gaza’s media office disclosed that at least 1.61 million of the 2.3 million population of Gaza have left their homes due to the non-stop bombings and shelling, which have already killed more than 10,000 people, including some 4,100 children.
The office’s statement also said that two percent of the total population of the Gaza Strip became direct casualties of the Israeli “aggression”, either killed or wounded.
The war has put a strain on international relations.
In total, nine countries have withdrawn their diplomats to Israel.. They are: Bahrain, Bolivia, which has severed all diplomatic ties with Israel, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Jordan, South Africa and Turkey.
How long will this war last? Another month, couple of months, a year?
As it stands now, Israel is not ready to back down until Hamas is annihilated, launching raids on Hamas targets.
A Hamas commander believed to be among those who ordered the 7 October attacks in Israel was killed in an airstrike on Monday. Reports named him as Wael Asefa, commander of Hamas’s Deir al-Balah battalion of the group’s central camps brigade.
Israel May Have ‘Security Responsibility’ For Gaza After War Ends
In an interview with a U.S news agency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Israel may govern Gaza for an “indefinite period”, after the war ends.
Noting that US President Joe Biden had previously said it would be a “mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza, the interviewer asked Netanyahu who should govern the territory when the fighting ends.
To this, Netanyahu remarked that Israel would have a role to play for an “indefinite period.”
“Those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas … It certainly is not – I think Israel will, for an indefinite period will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.
“When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
Last month, Israel defence minister Yoav Gallant said one key objective of Israel’s military campaign was to sever “Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” and establish a “new security reality for the citizens of Israel.”
The US has also suggested the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, could take charge in Gaza while others have suggested a consortium of Arab states could take responsibility.
Asked about Netanyahu’s comments, US national security council spokesperson John Kirby said, “What we support is that Hamas can’t be in control of Gaza any more.”
“We are having conversations with our Israeli counterparts about what governance in Gaza should look like post-conflict and I don’t believe that any solutions have been settled upon one way or the other.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
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