Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86wd84y7jyo
On Friday, December 27, 2024, the last functioning hospital in Gaza, Kamal Adwan was seized by Israeli forces. This comes along with the recent attack of two other hospitals in Gaza. The Israeli military stated that the hospital was being used as a Hamas command center. The military proceeded to kill 20 perceived terrorists, detained 240 people and took many in for questioning because of suspected Hamas involvement. Hamas regarded the military’s claims as lies and Israeli forces were unable to provide evidence to the contrary. The raid has brought up more discussion over whether Israel’s attacks create a humanitarian crisis, especially by the World Health Organization which is trying to bring resources to these civilians. Many people in Gaza are not currently able to get the medical attention they need. Patients from Kamal Adwan were taken to an out of function Indonesian hospital where they haven’t been able to get much help. Doctors were also taken hostage during this raid which people are arguing against because medical professionals are typically protected during times of conflict.
I think that this event will bring more NGOs into the situation because there is a need for medical attention and resources such as food and water that NGOs like WHO and the Red Cross provide. I also think that this aid will continue to excavate the conflict because even though Hamas’ leader was killed, the war is still strong and both sides are continuing to fight. I believe there is some truth to Israel’s claim about Hamas centers being where hospitals and schools are because they have done it in the past and it makes Israel look much worse. I think that this will turn Israelis and Palestinians against each other even more because it brings more civilians into the conflict.
I believe that Israel will not back down from their attacks until a certain breaking point with Hamas. I’m not sure what that breaking point will be, many thought it would’ve been the killing of the Hamas leader, but I think that as long as Hamas continues to fight and has a presence in Gaza or Palestine, then, Israel will continue to fight as well. I expect Hamas to respond to this by attacking Israel back and portraying this raid to many other countries to attempt to turn them against Israel so that they will have more power to back them up. I do not expect Hamas to quit fighting until their numbers dwindle significantly and do not have anyone to lead them. This connects to class because of the involvement of NGOs in international conflicts and show multicausation for attacks because Israel could have multiple causes for attacking the hospital including it being a possible Hamas center and weakening infrastructure and resources inside of Gaza.