Link to article- https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-strikes-southern-gaza-faces-calls-reduce-civilian-toll-2023-12-14/
Israel bombed the Gaza Strip on Thursday, striking civilian housing and adding to the current humanitarian crisis. The US sent an envoy before the strike that told Israel to limit civilian casualties in their pursuit of Hamas militants. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that he expects the war to last more than several months and that Israel will be victorious in the end. U.S. intelligence assessments have revealed that many of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has dropped have been unguided and Biden has called the bombing indiscriminate. The Palestinians in Gaza have already taken a toll from the war, many have lost their homes and are currently facing a hunger crisis. The U.N Palestinian Refugee Agency is having trouble providing enough food for the Palestinians, many of whom haven’t eaten in several days.
Israel’s recent attack on the Gaza strip conveys the brutality in this war and illustrates the cost that Israel may pay if they’re victorious, which is the lives of the majority of the civilian population in Gaza that has been unable to evacuate. United States may condemn Israel, a country the U.S. has chosen to stay allied with during the war, for going against the envoy that told Israel to avoid civilian casualties, especially because of the U.S intelligence assessment that has revealed that the targeting isn’t strategic and that many of the ground munitions dropped are unguided. Palestine will face irreparable damages from the war and there will be many more casualties from warfare and the rise in hunger issues as the supplies to the Gaza Strip have been cut off.
The war can be looked at through the lens of security policy to determine why Israel has taken the stance it has. On a global level, Israel is responding to Hamas’s October 7th attack while also being conscious of the rest of the world and the UN’s views of the war and which side they’re taking. On a regional level, Israel’s partnerships with countries like the United States are helping fund Israel’s attacks and providing them with the resources to continue fighting. On a state/individual level, Israeli cabinet members, specifically Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are all making strategic decisions about security policy and their actions in the ongoing war.