On October 7 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. It was said that about 4,300 missiles were used by Hamas. Unexpectedly, Israel suffered a huge setback. 1,200 innocent Israelis were killed in this attack. Another 251 were taken hostage by the militant group Hamas to the Gaza Strip. This was very unprecedented. Has Mossad, the so-called global master of espionage failed? According to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, a country has the right to use its forces in self-defence. But this right is not a permanent one.
Israel and the rest of the world demanded that Hamas release the hostages. But Hamas disagreed. Israel then launched a collective attack on the Hamas terrorist hideouts in Gaza with full force. Gaza now looks like an uninhabitable place. Israel cut down all external supply networks of food, basic medicine and water. It is worth recalling what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before Israel launched its military attack; “We don’t want this war. It has been imposed on us in a cruel and barbaric way. Hamas started this war and we will end it,” he said.
This war started last October 2023 and continues in November 2024. In the past year, more than 43,000 people have been killed. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that 16,765 of fatalities were children. To confirm this, according to a United Nations report, 70% of those who died in Gaza were children and women, according to a BBC news report. Similarly, ten thousand people have disappeared in the past year due to this war.
The UN human rights chief Golkar Turk said, “The unprecedented deaths and killings of civilians are the direct result of the failure to comply with the basic principles of international humanitarian law.”
India is one of the countries that continuously engages in counter-terrorism operations. It is the duty of all opposition parties to support the government in counter-terrorism operations. In this the Congress Party also continues to give its support to the Modi’s administration. It is natural for Indians to raise our voices and express our condemnation when human rights are violated, especially in the counter-terrorism operations in Kashmir. India’s security is important to us. Similarly, the world will know to what extent we respect international laws through our actions.
Likewise Israel’s security is also important to them. Terrorism in any form must be eradicated. In this there should be no double role for anyone under any circumstances. That is why one of the General Secretaries of the Congress party, Shri Jayaram Ramesh, stated, “The legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the national security concerns of the Israelis must be upheld. At the same time, these things should be accomplished through negotiation,” he said. Those of the Bharatiya Janata Party who criticize this fact must be called mentally ill.
Even if we accept India’s support for terror-stricken Israel, how does India’s Israel policy deal with the UN report that 70% of the 43,000 people killed in this war are women and children? I remember our External Affairs Minister Dr. S.Jayashankar saying that the “problems of the Palestinians should be taken seriously”.
Obviously Prime Minister Modi’s closeness with the world leaders will be celebrated by his supporters. However, this relationship should be used for world peace and ending the ongoing Israel-Hamas and Ukraine-Russia wars. Using his closeness with Israel, Modi obtained ‘Haifa Port’ for his businessman friend Adani; why does Modi not likewise send a message to his friend and counterpart, observing that 70% of those killed in this war on terror are innocent people! Mr. Prime Minister, kindly stop this war! If he had done so, the Prime Minister of India would have won the praise of all. But he did not do that.
Meanwhile, South Africa has brought charges of genocide against Israel before the International Court of Justice. South Africa’s indictment alleges that Israel has ‘imposed measures to prevent the birth of Palestinian children by denying the basic necessities of life to pregnant women and their children’. It is noteworthy that many countries have supported this accusation of South Africa.
In this case, India’s foreign policy blindly supports the strategic mistakes taken by the Prime Minister of Israel and it certainly means that India does not accept South Africa’s accusation against Israel. It is a well-known fact that in this Israel-Hamas war, none of the provisions of international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions are observed.
Politics is tough, said the President-elect Donald Trump. Likewise, the articulation of foreign policy in this extraordinary world. This is the time for India’s foreign policy to show an ethical path and to thus be a light in this fractured world. But Indian diplomacy raises doubts about whether our foreign ministry has a conscience. Presently, India’s takes the easy position: to stand with the strong and to sympathize with the weak.
It is true that Israel is the third largest state-supplier of military equipment to India after the US and Russia. However, our foreign policy should not mirror Israel’s policies for this reason. If it does, India is obliged to take responsibility and respond to the aforementioned genocide accusation against Israel. Otherwise, India will lose the credibility to be the voice of the Global South. Our foreign policy needs a course correction.
