Two years ago, the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza began when Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Professor of International Relations and Director of the International Relations Graduate Program Milind Thakar said Hamas militants crossed over the border into Israel and took a large number of hostages, attacking and killing many who tried to defend themselves. Most likely, Hamas was trying to put a stop to the recognition of Israel by several Arab states, according to Thakar. He said there was a possibility that Saudi Arabia might do so too, and Hamas was trying to keep the Palestinian issue alive.
Thakar said the Gazans are led by the militant movement Hamas, which has pledged to the destruction of Israel, preventing Palestinians from ceding any territory or independence. Gaza is a small strip of land at the southern tip of Israel, bordering Egypt on the other side.
There is a substantial Palestinian-Arab population of about 2 million, and the Palestinians there, as well as those who live in the West Bank between Israel and Jordan, are completely occupied by Israel, according to Thakar. Thakar said those three million people and the two million in Gaza have been trying to get statehood and independence, and Israel has not been willing to do so.
“After that initial attack [on Oct. 7, 2023], the Israelis struck back, and they had a preponderance of force. They succeeded in driving the Gazans out of Northern Gaza to Southern Gaza. In fact, most of them are concentrated around Gaza City…,” Thakar said. “We estimate maybe about 1,500 people killed on the Israeli side, including the hostages, and about 65,000 is the number given for those killed on the Palestinian side. On the Gaza side, many of those, in the case of the Palestinians, have been children, so this has become an ugly thing. It has also led to the near destruction of Hamas, but it has kept the Palestinian issue front and center of international relations.”
Thakar said the United Nations deemed Israeli actions genocide because of the vast targeted killings that have taken place. There have been a few temporary ceasefires, but Israel has used this as an opportunity to crush what it regards as the menace of Hamas once and forever, and it has certainly come close to pushing Hamas and most of the Palestinians out of Gaza, according to Thakar.
“157 out of the 193 countries that are members of the U.N. have recognized Palestine,” Thakar said. “But recognition is meaningless, because if Zimbabwe, or some other country that is not powerful enough, recognizes it, it doesn’t matter. What you need is a major superpower to recognize you, and you need a seat at the U.N. The U.S. has vetoed any attempt by Palestinians to get statehood, believing that that is not the right thing to do…But right now, breaking with tradition, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and France, four important countries that are also allies of the U.S., have gone ahead and recognized the Palestinian state. This doesn’t mean anything because there is no Palestinian state. There are two scattered population groups, one in the West Bank and one in Gaza.”
Thakar said that since the U.S. has withdrawn from the U.N. in many areas, such as educational, social and cultural offices, he fears that if the U.N. headquarters were to leave New York and go to Geneva, London or maybe even Shanghai, the U.S. would lose its influence in being able to directly talk with diplomats at the U.N. and give its point of view on international affairs.
“The U.S. is a superpower, but it also relies a lot on soft power,” Thakar said. “The concept of soft power is ideational or cultural power. It’s not just through big guns or big purses. It’s through influencing. If the U.N. leaves American shores, I think it begins the process of the decline of American power.”
Professor of International Relations Douglas Woodwell said that since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, the situation has devolved, rather than evolved. He added what little sense of law and order was within Gaza is now “completely long gone.”
“[On the U.S.’s denial of the two-state solution (“Israel-Palestine”)], there is the far left solution of basically identity, ethnicity and religion shouldn’t matter,” Woodwell said. “It should all be one happy, big country. This is the Gandhi-esque solution that we did for India when it became independent. It’s a ridiculous pie in the sky, the notion that only academics support, in my opinion, but at least we should all live in harmony. The other is, of course, the much scarier idea on the other side of the political spectrum that certain members, even of the Israeli government, supported, which is essentially ethnic cleansing of Palestinians themselves and forcing a one-state solution. Essentially, saying, ‘Palestinians are Arabs. Go live in other Arab countries. We’ll take our historic lands and Gaza and West Bank,’ which the hardcore people over there refer to as ‘Judea’ and ‘Samara.’”
Thakar and Woodwell proposed resolutions. Thakar said if the U.S. were to lean in on Israel and tell it to stop the conflict, it would be over. On the other hand, Woodwell said Hamas must surrender.
While Thakar said he fears the U.N.’s withdrawal from the U.S., beginning the decline of American power, Woodwell said he is most concerned about what the post-war reconstruction process will look like.
“My big worry is the same thing it was in the Iraq War, back when we fought that: What is the end game? I hoped that the Israeli government was keeping that in mind and plotting and planning what they were going to do, you know, for the last two years,” Woodwell said. “I’ve seen absolutely no public signs that they have at this point any idea of how to disengage from this dispute and what their long-term vision is. People laughed at President Trump talking about ‘Gaza on the Riviera’ as the vision for it. And maybe it’s a little silly, but really, it’s not that bad of a vision. The best way to move forward is to provide a better future for the people of Gaza, which requires a significant investment of time and resources. I haven’t heard people in the Israeli government or war supporters even abroad in the U.S. government, really come out strongly and say, ‘We need to really make sure that a rebuilt Gaza is a place that Palestinians are proud of and want to live,’ so that groups like Hamas can never retake root.”
Thakar said the U.S. is particularly invested in this Gaza war because of what happened in World War II and the U.S.’s guilt for standing by while the Nazis killed large numbers of Jewish people in death camps. Also, the Israeli oil and gun rights lobbies are important to the U.S., and America sees Israel as a democratic country with democratic rights for the Israeli citizens, according to Thakar.
“I’m quite dismayed by the reaction of the international community,” Thakar said. “They have not bothered to do anything. They’ve just gone along with it, and so has the U.S. I don’t disagree with the fact that Israel had a right to defend itself and attack the perpetrators. There have been two years of attacks, and the people should not suffer because of their government. The people of Gaza are suffering unduly because of what their government did, but also, crucially, because of what Israel and other countries are allowing to happen out there. We’re looking at starvation. We’re looking at the people who are going to feel the effects of this for years to come.”
