For a Moment, Gazans Had Hope the War Would End. Now They Feel They've Been Abandoned - Middle East - Haaretz.com
While Israel is trying to figure out the fate of Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif and how the strike that targeted him will affect the negotiations for the release of the hostages, residents of the Gaza Strip see things completely differently, according to reports from Gaza. For them, after nine months of war, Israel continues attacking unrestricted, and they are abandoned.
"No one talks anymore about the scores of dead, including women and children with burned bodies," a resident of the Nuseirat refugee camp told Haaretz. "In the U.S., Trump's bleeding ear is more important, Europe is already busy with the election results in France and Britain, the protest and marches in the world are weekend events."
"Not to mention the Arab world and even the West Bank – has anyone heard about a real protest beyond slogans?" she added.
Nuseirat refugee camp, on Monday.Credit: Ramadan Abed / Reuters
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Until a week ago, there was a sense that there was real international pressure to end the war, she said. "A few days ago, I took my girls to my neighbor to play with her granddaughters. We began to talk about the end of the war, and how we would slowly try to get back to normal. She told me, 'Don't worry, child, it will end soon.' Yesterday, she was killed with her two granddaughters by an Israeli missile," she said in tears. "Her life ended, not the war, and no one heard, because she is not named Muhammad Deif."
Criticism among Gazans and the sense of abandonment began several months ago, following the international community's failure to end the war. This feeling became far stronger in the past few days, following the massive strikes on Mawasi in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Nuseirat in the central Strip, and the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
The Gazans feel that international attention is focused on Deif's fate and less on the price paid by the civilian population.
Khan Yunis after the strike that targeted Mohammed Deif, on Saturday.Credit: Jehad Alshrafi / AP
"We've had this sense for a while now, and every day, especially this week, we've felt it more," said Mustafa Ibrahim, a Palestinian social researcher, who was uprooted from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah and then to Rafah.
"For the Arab world, there is war in Gaza, so there is a lot of _expression_ of pain and solidarity in the media, but beyond that – nothing. Gaza is alone," he said.
"In the West Bank, there is not even a demonstration or march if it is not a funeral for someone killed by the army," Ibrahim added. "The Arab world is almost silent. Here and there in Amman there is a demonstration, and there are big demonstration on Fridays in Sana. But it's clear to everyone that they don't pressure anyone anymore," he said. "Not to mention the Arab regimes, which do not show any signs of pressuring Israel at all."
He said that the feeling is also of a disconnect between Palestinians in Gaza and the leadership in Ramallah. Saturday's statement by the Office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which partly blamed the strike in Khan Yunis on Hamas, was perceived in Gaza as an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to intensify the division rather than supporting the people.
"The subsequent responses and infighting among the factions indicate the depth of the crisis and the lack of trust, as well as the sense of frustration felt by the Palestinian public in Gaza with respect to the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah," Ibrahim explained.
A demonstration supporting Gazans in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday.Credit: Alaa Al Sukhni / Reuters
Gaza also sees the retreat of international interest, says Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights deputy general director Samir Zaqout. "Until a few months ago, the whole world was about Gaza, marches, rallies, and demonstrations on campuses and before parliaments," he said in an interview with A-Shams Radio in Nazareth.
"There was international pressure and broad coverage, and even hearings at the international court. Israel feared arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and others. Where are they now?" he wondered. "True, there is a march here and there, but how much does that really permeate and change anything?"
He said that, just last week, there were "scores of dead, hundreds of wounded, and unimaginable damage, people are starving. For us, this is real extermination, and everyone is waiting for and depending on what Netanyahu will decide," he added.
"All that is left for us is to wait until it's over. People are going out into the streets and wandering between the ruins, waiting on their fate – maybe a bomb will fall or maybe aid will arrive by air – it's impossible to know."
Zaqout said, however, that Gazans realize that the war will end eventually. "The point is what the world will look like after this war," he explained. "In the short term, it seems uninteresting, but in the long term, the international community has been laid bare."
"Definitions such as international law, human rights, children's rights, have been trampled every day with no response," he said. "The international court has been revealed to be a very limited instrument, as have the various UN institutions," he added.
"True, the UN secretary general speaks, the Human Rights Council speaks, as do organizations like UNRWA and the World Health Organization. But how much do they really apply pressure on Israel and Netanyahu?" he asked.
"Pressure by the world's powerful countries is needed, but meanwhile that isn't happening. Look at the support and pressure for Ukraine, but Gaza? Let all the Palestinians die and be exterminated. We're waiting for Netanyahu."