Military escalation escalates between Israel and Hamas

Israelis and Palestinians increase the exchange of bombings in the last hours creating a war situation without heeding the international community's requests for a ceasefire. Hamas-Israel, Israel and Hamas are already two old acquaintances who once again bring out their arsenal to the detriment of the civilian population. The brunt of this escalation, which has already resulted in direct confrontation between the two sides, is being borne by the Gaza Strip.

Since the Hamas attack and Israeli retaliation began late on Monday, the Gaza Ministry of Health has confirmed the deaths of at least 83 people, including 17 children. In addition, more than 480 people have been injured. The Israeli side, for its part, has reported at least seven dead. In a final onslaught by Hamas, the armed wing of the group fired a missile from Gaza towards Ramon airport in Eilat, southern Israel, which missed its target and landed in an unpopulated area, while a fresh volley of rockets flew over Tel Aviv.

Neither side seems to have any intention of de-escalating the climate of tension and violence that has been raging for the past few days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Hamas has crossed a "red line" and that the fighting between Hamas and Israel could "continue for some time". In addition to large-scale bombardments by land, sea and air, the Israeli army has carried out targeted assassinations against senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials. According to the Shin Bet intelligence service, Israel has killed prominent Islamist leaders such as Bassem Issam in recent days.

Moreover, the instability and sharp division between local Arabs and Israelis has become even more apparent within the Jewish state's notorious mixed neighbourhoods. As the days have gone by, these neighbourhoods have, for the first time, been the scene of brutal clashes, as in the case of Lod, where Yair Revivo, mayor of this town 15 km from Tel Aviv, described the situation as a "civil war". Throughout the week, groups of Jews and Israeli Arabs have clashed with each other, causing serious riots.

But the violence is spreading across the country, especially in cities and towns with Arab populations such as neighbouring Ramle, Acre, Jaffa, Jisr al-Zarqa and Umm al-Fahm. Israeli media reported lynchings of both Arabs and Jews in these Israeli towns. Despite civilian casualties and continued calls by the international community to stop the conflict, both sides have ruled out a ceasefire.

Several European countries have urged both sides to end the escalating violence. The Spanish foreign minister, Arancha González Laya, stressed the idea of a two-state solution. For its part, the UN Security Council met urgently, but was unable to reach a conclusion due to opposition from the United States, Israel's loyal ally in the region. 

US President Joe Biden contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone call in which he expressed his support for the Jewish state and backed "Israel's right to defend itself and its people, while protecting civilians, when it has received thousands of rockets on its territory". For his part, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in contact with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. During the conversation Blinken stressed "the need to end rocket attacks and de-escalate tensions". "Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve freedom, dignity, security and prosperity," the US secretary of state tweeted. 

As a result of the alleged US blocking of a joint resolution within the UN Security Council, Tunisia, Norway and China have called for an emergency reconvening of the Council, despite US reluctance.

For their part, the European Union countries that are members of the Council (France, Estonia and Ireland), together with Norway, have issued a joint communiqué, dissociating themselves from the position taken by the United States. These European countries have condemned the attacks on Israeli towns launched from Gaza and also considered the high numbers of civilian casualties, including children, in Israel's attacks to be "unacceptable".

Despite these calls from the international community, the violence is not likely to cease - on the contrary, it is expected to intensify with Palestinians celebrating Nakba (catastrophe) Day this Saturday.