Op-Ed: The United States Must Shift Course as Israeli Ground Assault Appears Imminent
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, as seen from Israel, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo / Ariel Schalit)
After the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East was stunned by a highly coordinated terrorist attack at an unprecedented scale, American politicians from across the political spectrum immediately offered their complete support to Israel, giving the government a greenlight to respond how it sees fit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the American response, categorizing US President Joe Biden’s support as “unreserved” after a phone call between the leaders following the slaughter of over 1300 innocent Israelis on the morning of October 7.
While the reaction to support its Israeli allies is more than understandable, the United States should instead apply pressure to reign in Netayahu’s far-right government and address the policies that led to such an atrocity — for the sake of both countries.
In response to the terrorist attack by Hamas, a Gaza-based extremist Palestinian political organization, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has embarked on a siege of the Palestinian territory. In practice, this means cutting off over two million Palestinians from ample water, food and most importantly fuel — a vital source of power to keep Gaza’s hospital network afloat as it treats thousands of victims of Israeli airstrikes.
United Nations (UN) officials have condemned the siege as a violation of international law and a form of “collective punishment” against the Palestinians, who have not voted for Hamas since 2006. Since almost half the population of Gaza consists of children under 18, a product of the horrific living conditions due largely to Israel’s ongoing blockade since 2007, most living Gazans were either not alive or not old enough to vote in 2006. Hamas’ hold on Gaza’s political leadership since 2006 has been maintained largely through fear and violent repression.
It could be argued, however, that Netanyahu and his government have done more to empower Hamas than the vast majority of Palestinians; the prime minister openly admitted in a 2019 meeting to propping up Hamas financially to “thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state” by politically dividing the Palestinians.
Furthermore, his government failed to prevent Hamas’ terrorist attack, despite warnings from Egyptian intelligence that such an operation could take place three days in advance.
Widespread destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, the largest city in Israel-occupied Gaza, is seen on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo / Adel Hana)
A ground assault into Gaza by the IDF is imminent, with the now clarified goal of defeating Hamas completely, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. This assault will involve brutal urban combat that could last for months, and could ultimately end in a quagmire that many counterinsurgency wars tend to result in.
Biden and the United States need to apply pressure on Israel to call off the pending ground assault, and cease its air campaign in favor of a ceasefire. Not doing so will lead to execrable devastation in the region, the further inflammation of the Arab world against the United States and Israel, and potentially even the expansion of the war to neighboring countries.
Most potently, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, a Palestinian faction based in Lebanon that is significantly stronger than Hamas, is trading fire with Israel on its northern border — with the potential to escalate into a full-scale war at any moment.
The official Palestinian death count is over 5,000 after two weeks of Israeli air strikes, although the actual death count could be much higher. Over 15,000 have been injured. These strikes have been carried out with no condemnation from the United States, and are largely conducted with either American weapons or weapons purchased with American foreign contributions. The United States has given Israel an unconditional $158 billion in aid since its inception in 1948, and continues to supply weapons even as Israel’s air campaign roars across Gaza.
The United States is more than complicit in Israel’s ongoing air campaign — it is an active participant.
Attempting to save face with the Arab world, Biden had planned a meeting with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in order to discuss humanitarian aid to the increasingly desperate Gazan population during his trip to the Middle East last week. Unfortunately, the meeting was called off amid the explosion of a hospital in Gaza City that was originally reported to have killed hundreds of Palestinians, which Israel and Hamas have accused each other of perpetrating. The wide media consensus, a week later, is that the explosion was most likely caused by a failed rocket launched by Palestinian militants that prematurely exploded.
Nonetheless, Biden went forward with his planned meeting with Netanyahu, rightly showering Israel with sympathy, but failing to denounce the enormous slate of Israeli-inflicted civilian casualties in any meaningful way.
President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
Biden did importantly remind the world that Hamas does not represent the Palestinians. He also brokered a humanitarian corridor through Egypt’s Rafah Border Crossing with Gaza. However, the truck convoys have only just begun to materialize after Israel stalled the operation for days via tense negotiations. Israel still refuses to allow fuel to enter Gaza, arguing that it could be diverted to power Hamas’ vehicles and weapons.
Fifty-four aid trucks have crossed into Gaza since Saturday, while UN officials say 100 trucks are required daily to meet the needs of the besieged population. There is no doubt that the “deal,” even if brokered by Biden, is severely inadequate as it stands.
Biden ultimately failed to achieve what should have been his highest priorities — the establishment of himself as a potential mediator in the future, and a clear message to the world that he ultimately intends to push for a ceasefire.
As French journalist and geopolitics columnist Pierre Haski put it, “Joe Biden may have secured humanitarian access to Gaza, but he was unable to deploy the political aspect of his visit. As a result, he appears to the Arabs as Israel's main supporter.”
Not all hope for a better US response is lost. While the United States appears committed to supporting any action Israel wants to take, going as far as to veto an otherwise unanimous UN resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause in the conflict,” there are signs that the Biden administration may be using its leverage to delay Israel’s ground offensive to buy time for hostage negotiations and for more humanitarian assistance into Gaza. These developments should be welcomed, but closely watched and taken with a grain of salt.
Protests have taken place all over the world, including in the United States, pushing to call off the ground offensive and commence negotiations for a ceasefire.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest outside the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, October 14, 2023. (AP Photo / Damian Dovarganes)
Biden should convince Netanyahu and the leaders of Israel not to follow in America’s footsteps, and to create a more rational and less emotional response than the Bush administration did after 9/11. A prolonged, counterinsurgency war in Gaza is likely to foster more anger towards Israel and the United States.
Both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars prove that despite cutting-edge weaponry, a technologically inferior group can outlast these militaries through strong resolve and continuous recruitment in the face of anti-Western sentiment. A hard strike on Gaza and the rapid removal of Hamas without a backup political solution would almost certainly lead to a power vacuum that would be filled by an equally brutal terrorist group, if the 2003 US removal of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent rise of ISIS and other extremist factions is any indication of what is to come.
The devastation has already begun to inflict trauma upon a new cycle of Palestinian civilians — perhaps to the benefit of Hamas as it ensures future recruitment. After Sunday’s barrage of Israeli air strikes on Gaza, this young boy below lost his entire family.
When he is old enough to understand that this was the result of an Israeli air strike, backed by the United States, will he understand that Israel was just defending itself and that the instant killing of his entire family was justified by a Hamas attack that he played no role in? What will he and the next generation of Palestinians who lose family members during Israel’s campaign on Gaza think about the United States? Will he accept that they were necessary collateral damage?
One thing is for sure, continuing to unconditionally support Israel with weapons, foreign aid, and international legitimacy — with no strings attached — is not in the United States’ long-term interest, at least morally. The US must use its leverage against Israel to push for a ceasefire, and over the next several years take the necessary steps to force Israel and the PA back into the 1993 Oslo Accords, when a serious plan for the future seemed possible.