A digger removes the rubble from the police station that was overrun by Hamas militants on Saturday, in Sderot, Israel, Sunday, Oct8, 2023. Hamas militants stormed over the border fence Saturday, killing hundreds of Israelis in surrounding communities. (PHOTO / AP)
The international community scrambled to call for de-escalation and end of hostilities between Palestine militant group Hamas and Israel after a flash round of conflict left hundreds dead and thousands injured.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was now in “a state of war" after rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on Oct 7 in Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and vowed retaliation, ordering a full mobilization of reserves.
The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit slammed Israel's violent policies against the Palestinians as "a time bomb," calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Palestinian Gaza Strip
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held an emergency meeting with top officials of the Palestinian Authority, underscoring the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against “terror of settlers and occupation troops,” Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
READ MORE: Hamas: Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank raid
But their Middle Eastern neighbors and others called for restraint. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait have expressed sympathies over the casualties and called on both sides to exercise restraint and an immediate ceasefire.
Jordan urged for the need to halt the dangerous escalation in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings with its Foreign Ministry warning in a statement the serious repercussions of the escalation, especially in light of the Israeli attacks and violations against the Palestinian people, as well as against the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit slammed Israel's violent policies against the Palestinians as "a time bomb," calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), called for an immediate ceasefire between Palestinians and Israeli occupation forces to protect innocent civilians.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani reacted to the current developments in occupied Palestine and the attack by the Palestinian resistance groups against the occupiers, saying Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was a spontaneous move by the resistance groups and the oppressed Palestinian people in defense of their inalienable and undeniable rights.
Kanaani said in a statement the oppressed Palestinian people’s inalienable right to defend themselves, their land and their sanctities against occupation, aggression, daily violations and “organized terror on part of the Zionist regime” is a natural and legitimate right in line with all recognized international standards and the fundamental principles of international law.
Indonesia on Sunday also called for the violence to end.
"Indonesia is deeply concerned with the escalation of conflict between Palestine and Israel. Indonesia urges the immediate end of violence to avoid further human casualties," the Indonesian foreign ministry said in a statement.
On Oct 8, various media reported that heavy artillery shells were also fired toward Israeli positions on the Shebaa Farms – a disputed strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights – on early Sunday morning
The Iraqi government also warned that continued escalation between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) would impact negatively on the stability of the region.
Analysts said the latest developments should serve as a wakeup call for the international community to interfere and that sustainable peace would not be realized if Palestinian rights continued to be ignored.
Ayman Yousef, a professor of international relations at the Arab American University, and is based in Jenin in the West Bank, noted to China Daily that there were many factors “that led to this sudden escalation” and one of them was Israel’s “daily killing of Palestinians in the West Bank”, and Israeli settlement activities in occupied territories and Israeli settlers entering the holy mosque in Jerusalem on an almost daily basis.
“I am worried hundreds will be killed from the Palestinian (side), especially in Gaza strip,” he added.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported that at least 313 people have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded so far due to Israeli attacks while Israel’s military said at least 26 soldiers have been killed by the Hamas attack, according to an updated by Al Jazeera. Israeli media have reported that over 250 Israelis have been killed.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Israeli military confirmed that Palestinian militants had launched almost 3,000 rockets against Israel, and dozens of militants had infiltrated southern Israel.
Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, claimed to have captured a number of Israeli officers and soldiers, and that they were being held in "safe places".
Muslim Imran, director at the Asia Middle East Center for Research and Dialogue, told China Daily what happened showed Israel’s security system and agencies were “a big failure of embarrassing proportions”, being one of the countries to produce and sell security systems to the world.
“What happened was also a significant shift in the dynamics of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as the moral impact on the Palestinian spirit to fight Israeli will be huge and the impact on the Israeli society to end its occupation will also be huge,” said Imran.
He said it would also remind the world that what was happening in Palestine was about the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and Israeli occupation violations, and that nothing can bring peace to the region without addressing the rights of the Palestinians and ending Israeli violations.
“No peace deal will work without having the Palestinians rights addressed and acknowledged,” said Imran.
This picture shows an Israeli police station in Sderot after it was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on Oct 8, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, told China Daily, that when discussing Palestinian militant attacks, one needs to look at the complete context when “not only Hamas, but other militias were also joining these attacks”.
“Many UN resolutions have confirmed Israel's international law violations, so accordingly, international law gives the Palestinian people the right to resist. So, even though there may be a truce, as long as the Palestinians' fundamental rights, namely independence, are not fulfilled, they will continue to fight, and the fighting will continue to be repeated,” said Sulaeman.
“Sustainable peace will not be realized as long as the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people continue to be ignored by Israel and the international community. The world needs to be fair to the Palestinian struggle,” she added.
READ MORE: Israel closes Gaza crossing after border clashes
On Oct 8, various media reported that heavy artillery shells were also fired toward Israeli positions on the Shebaa Farms – a disputed strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights – on early Sunday morning.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL issued a statement, saying their peacekeepers remain in positions and on task.
“We urge everyone to exercise restraint and make use of UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination mechanisms to de-escalate to prevent a fast deterioration of the security situation,” the statement read.
