DC Edit | Pragmatic India Backs Gaza Truce

It was on the gathering strength of the evidence that India had to change its stance on the Israel- Hamas war to vote for the call to a humanitarian ceasefire. Even after considering the barbarity of the intrusion by Hamas, it became clear that the military retribution was becoming increasingly disproportionate to the hit that Israel took.

Israel has pounded Gaza City out of shape while killing at least 18,000 Palestinians in a rising count of civilian fatalities to which could be added a few Israeli soldiers ambushed inside the Gaza Strip, besides the 1,200 killed on October 7 and around 200 taken hostage.

In nine weeks of the war, India had to change its diplomatic response in an empathetic swing to the plight of two million Palestinians, most of whom may have little to do with the terrorist outlook of Hamas even if they had voted for its political wing to rule Gaza. The lives of the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip were torn asunder as Israel occupied Gaza City in the north and then Khan Younis in the south, leaving no place safe for its people from bombardment and a ground offensive with tanks and troops.

India, one of the first to recognise the PLO even in the days when it was led by a militant Yasser Arafat, had also changed tack to become a votary of a two-state solution with an independent Palestine living in peace side by side with Israel. That is being stressed again in the wake of a war that has become more unwinnable for Israel that is hunting for the Hamas leadership whose members seem to have dispersed rather than been eliminated.

The 153 versus 10 (23 abstentions) vote at the UN General Assembly was a clear indication of how the world has become disenchanted with the severity of Israeli military action even as Benjamin Netanyahu vows nothing less than complete revenge in dismemberment of Hamas, but which is not looking likely now.

Regardless of how well its military offensive goes towards attaining its objectives, it is clear Israel intends to occupy the Gaza Strip. The world is a very long way from seeing the birth of the two-state principle. Meanwhile, only a total ceasefire will guarantee a chance of survival for the Palestinians while solutions are thought up of building a Palestine with no role for Hamas in it.