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As we come to the close of this year, the world is marking Christmas festivities, and ushering in the New Year with hope. As much as we all would like to see cheerful headlines, the last three months have laid bare the crisis of humanity the world is currently facing. In its latest round of mass violence, Israel bombed areas of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, as Gaza health authorities and the Israeli military both announced mounting death tolls.
A Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said on Sunday 166 Palestinians had been killed in 24 hours, taking the total Palestinian death toll to 20,424. Over 8,000 children have been killed since October. Israel and its powerful backers appear to have no discomfort when thousands of children’s bodies are being counted in what they call a war against Hamas. In the midst of such unspeakable barbarism and a crisis of humanity, it is justice that we need urgently. Hope can wait until we see the wheels of justice turn, at least a little.
While Israel has managed to turn Gaza into what the United Nations called a “graveyard for children and a living hell for everyone else”, it also faces questions on whether it is meeting its stated objectives after two and a half months of bombing and invasion, writes Stanly Johny. If Israel’s objective is to eradicate Hamas, free hostages and bolster its own deterrence, the Jewish state is nowhere close to meeting those goals, even after 10 weeks of one of the most intense bombing campaigns of the century, he argues.
How long before Palestinians have a chance to remember what it feels like to be hopeful? How long before a ceasefire?
Top 5: Here’s what we are reading this week
- Bab el-Mandeb | A strategic choke point: Stanly Johny writes on the Houthi attacks on tankers passing through the narrow Strait, disrupting one of the busiest global shipping lanes, and dragging the U.S. deeper into the conflict
- Sheikh Hasina | The rebel who became the ruler: Will the Bangladeshi Prime Minister be willing to test her popularity in the ring of a truly “free and fair election” scheduled in January 2024? Kallol Bhattacherjee writes
- The evolving role of the Colombo Security Conclave: For New Delhi, whose ambitions, responsibilities, and threats have increased significantly in the last decade, the CSC will remain an important instrument to help it consolidate its regional leadership, write Harsh V. Pant and Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy
- What’s the latest blip in India-Maldives ties? We examine why the government of Mohamed Muizzu decided against renewing a hydrographic survey agreement with India, and the implications of the decision, coming soon after a pledge to send back Indian troops stationed in the Indian Ocean archipelago
- India’s defence budgeting and the point of deterrence: Examining India’s defence Budget and national security goals through the prism of electoral imperatives would be unprofessional, contends Manmohan Bahadur
