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If you are a citizen of Ireland, reading news coverage of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip, then you may, like my colleague Niamh Ui Bhrian, be utterly despairing of the ongoing violence and baffled, or even angered, by the lack of a ceasefire. Coverage of the conflict in Ireland tends to take a fairly standard path: there is much focus on the present, and the civilian casualties of the war. The opinions of the United Nations are given immense prominence. There is relentless attention given to the various NGOs and Governments calling for aid to the civilian population, or a pause in the conflict. The Israelis are consistently portrayed as the baddies for refusing to stop the fighting.
In that kind of coverage, some basic facts are missed. Here are five of them:
In the last full-on Israel/Hamas war, in 2014, Israel agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire after six days of fighting. That ceasefire lasted fully three days, until Hamas unilaterally broke the ceasefire and started firing rockets at targets in Israel. In fact, in that conflict, four ceasefires were broken by Hamas. The final one lasted a few months, then the rocket attacks from Gaza began again. Unfortunately for Israel, rocket attacks from Gaza by themselves do not, apparently, amount to a “war” in most people’s eyes in the west.
Presumably because the rockets are not aimed at our houses.
More recently, it should be noted that a ceasefire was in effect, between Israel and Hamas, as recently as October 6th. That ceasefire was broken, also by Hamas, when it launched its murderous attack on Israel on October 7th. Since 2006, Hamas has broken more than a dozen negotiated ceasefires with Israel.
In light of that, a basic question should be obvious: While Israel would pay a price for breaking any ceasefire, what price would Hamas pay? It has never paid any price for breaking ceasefires previously, and is unlikely to do so again. In fact, recent history suggests Hamas simply uses ceasefires to re-organise and re-arm to begin the fight again.
So, what guarantees can western countries give Israel that this simply would not be the case again? And if the answer to that question is “none”, why should – or would – Israel agree to any ceasefire without major concessions?
And speaking of concessions:
A ceasefire is, at its most basic level, a humanitarian gesture. Speaking to the US Secretary of State over the weekend, Israel’s Government made very clear that it would agree to such a ceasefire, in return for a basic humanitarian gesture in return by Hamas: The release of the over 200 Israeli hostages – including at least one six-month-old baby – from Hamas captivity.
Here’s a question for the Irish Government, and indeed for President Higgins: Is that a reasonable demand? And if not, why not?
It amounts, after all, to one humanitarian gesture in return for another, which, we would presumably all agree, is the basic building block of any “peace” process. If Israel is expected to stop the conflict out of respect for Palestinian civilians, then why wouldn’t Hamas, at a minimum, also be expected to show its respect for the captive Israelis in its tunnels by releasing them in turn?
For whatever reason, the Irish media are unwilling to put that question to Irish politicians directly, or to link the release of hostages to a ceasefire.
But that leaves Israel in a terrible position, for it is expected to suspend its war while leaving Hamas with the leverage of 200 Israeli citizens – including children – as its captives. Would you take that deal, if the hostages were Irish? Would you really want nothing in return?
This is a relatively basic point, which goes somewhat unmentioned in the Irish media. Here’s a Hamas spokesperson last week.
Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: ‘We will repeat the October 7 attack time and time again until Israel is annihilated; We are the victims – everything we do Is justified.’ Yeah. Nah. It’s not. What you did on the 7th was appalling #Hamas #Gaza #Palestinianspic.twitter.com/GQBLqtt2aB
— EmmaBorosKidd (@EmmaBorosKidd) November 1, 2023
Fully three weeks ago, the Irish Times reported the following:
“Al-Shifa Hospital, the coastal enclave’s largest medical complex, has enough fuel to power its back-up generators for four more days at most, its director said on Wednesday”
That was on October 12th. Three weeks later, despite no additional fuel being admitted to Gaza – which remains under Israeli blockade – the hospital’s generators are still running. So, was the director of the hospital engaged in a perhaps understandable bit of exaggeration? Or is Israel telling the truth when it says that the Hamas authorities have a massive stockpile of fuel which they are only dribbling out to civilian infrastructure?
It is an important question: The claim that the hospital was about to run out of fuel was a core part of a storyline which said that Israel’s blockade was inhumane and part of a genocide: That hospitals would go dark, and drinking water would disappear within days. Neither of those things have happened, and yet the media have conspicuously refused to follow their stories up.
Here’s Shifa Hospital two nights ago, three weeks after we were told it was about to run out of fuel. Note the abundant electricity, mobile phones, and big screens.
Hamas held a screening for their supporters at the #AlShifaHospital last night.
Note:
1. Plenty of electricity.
2. The generator obviously wasn't shut down.
3. Hamas doesn’t lack fuel for the things they prioritize.#NoMasHamas pic.twitter.com/US2G1LMH9p— COGAT (@cogatonline) November 5, 2023
Whether you like that question or not, it is the single most important question that you have to answer if you wish for any Israeli to listen to you. This is because they, far more than most young western protestors, know the recent history of the conflict. A ceasefire would, after all, leave Hamas intact and in a position to recover. Every piece of historic evidence – as well as the spoken words of Hamas officials, just last week – indicate that Hamas is intent on continuing the war. This puts the Israelis in the position of choosing whether to a) stop fighting, with the sole reward of appeasing some in the west who will never sympathise with it anyway – including many who responded to the Hamas attacks on October 7th with what could best be called equivocation, or b) continue the fighting until Hamas is unable to threaten Israel again for years.
Which would you choose, given those options, if it was your civilians in the line of fire? Ultimately, a ceasefire requires a major concession from Israel – but what concession does it require from Hamas?
The Israeli position is that they are winning the war. That position has been hardened by the knowledge that the world will not reward them, in any way, for showing Hamas mercy. And it is why they look upon the position of the Irish government, for one, with something approaching absolute contempt.
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