Even when the fighting stops, Gazans will be destroyed by economic means

Opinions from Arabic-language commentators on the chances of peace in the Middle East

In the series of conflicts that plagues the Middle East, all eyes seem to be set on devastated Gaza, as the world awaits any move or interruption that would give the Palestinian people some respite from the bloodshed caused by the Israeli bombardment.

“Truce means that the killing stops. But killing does not necessarily imply the use of direct military force. Killing has multiple faces,” remarked the Sharjah-based daily Al Khaleej in its editorial on Monday.

“You may be using epidemics or an economic blockade. Economic embargoes have been behind many a death in the world over the past decades.”

The editorial noted: “In this age of human rights, there are two ways of killing. The first uses military weapons and is one countries try to avoid, as it attracts people’s ire around the world and may induce political inconveniences. It is also costly and sending soldiers to their deaths can lead to internal problems. Resistance is justified for those under military attack and they thus have the capacity – however small – to retaliate.”

The second and preferred type of killing is economic. “It is an indirect type of killing, delayed killing – such as by preventing medication from reaching many of those who need it.”

The editorial continued: “This is the type of embargo practised by Israel in the West Bank and on the Gaza Strip – an absolute blockade by air, land and sea that has led to numerous deaths over the past decades.

“It is killing nonetheless,” the editorial concluded.

In the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, George Semaan writes that “the third ongoing war on the Gaza Strip is not intrinsically linked to the series of crises occurring around the Arab world.

“No longer does truce solely depend on the two parties fighting one another. It is now reliant on the interests of various countries and powers within and without the region.”

Semaan continued that “this is the natural result of the regional conjecture and is not induced by the repercussions of the Arab Spring that has eliminated boundaries between some countries and brought about the rise of new religious, ethnic and tribal groups and entities. It is, rather, the consequence of a prolonged phase of instability, a bug that has hit the system since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the three consecutive Gulf wars and their repercussions on the Arab world.”

Every major war Israel wages on the Palestinians is accompanied by political conflicts that are irrelevant to what is happening to the victim, opined Samir Atallah in the pan-Arab daily Asharq El Awsat.

“Hamas maintains its haughtiness towards the Egyptian government while wanting its help. It also maintains its arrogance towards the Palestinian Authority and holds it responsible for the Israeli war and for failing to retaliate,” he remarked.

Although an Israeli intelligence source has confirmed that Hamas was not responsible for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank that sparked the latest conflict, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be building his policies on top of Gaza’s rubble, noted Atallah.

“Every time a crime of such magnitude takes place, each party will draw its own benefits from it. A medley of political speeches faces endless funerals,” he wrote.

“Turkey and Qatar are the only two countries that may influence Israel and they both want to embarrass Egypt more than help Hamas,” the writer noted.

“But the real wound only hurts where it truly lies, and deeply-wounded Gaza is bleeding into agony.”

Translated by Carla Mirza