Death, destruction and displacement on a massive scale – that is Gaza today. The people have inadequate food and shelter, and live every day in terror of the next attack. Children are killed, maimed, orphaned, traumatised beyond belief. They’ve lost everything , and many will face lifelong effects of malnutrition in combination with physical and psychological scars.

When will it be enough? Israel’s usual response to the killing of its own citizens has been to kill many multiples more civilians in the area the threat came from. That pattern is part of the region’s recent history. Hamas knew that when they brought down the wrath of hell on their own people by launching the mass killing and kidnapping attack of October 2023.

What reaction were they hoping to provoke? A revenge so awful that Israel would lose all legitimacy and backing, opening to the way to a state of Palestine? Perhaps. Yet Isael’s killing-spree is still under way at no particular cost to the country’s core support globally. How many of their compatriots’ lives were Hamas prepared to sacrifice in this pointless escalation? At least 58,000 as it turns out – and counting.

Twenty months on, Israel and Hamas share the blame for this ongoing catastrophe. The Israeli army is either the most incompetent or the most brutal in the world. They appear to be incapable of killing combatants without slaughtering thousands of innocent people and destroying essential infrastructure and entire residential areas. They cannot/ will not provide adequate food and shelter for those displaced by their actions. They will not stop killing and destroying; no target is exempt. For all their superior resources, they are unable to wrest control of a tiny piece of land in more than 1.5 years of trying. All they can do is destroy and lie about it. This is what we see.  

I don’t care whether the term genocide is valid or not. It does not matter what word you use. The sum of the parts of the Israeli campaign in Gaza is abominable, a crime of the ages, whatever you call it – a stain on the soul of Israel. The strategy and actions of Hamas equally so.

Extending the agony of the civilian population is deeply wrong. Hamas and Israel choose war over peace every day, sacrificing the poor people of Gaza. The greater betrayal lies with Hamas for dragging their own people into this war in the first place, and choosing to hide behind them every horrendous day that goes by. The greater responsibility lies with the democratic state of Israel for the absolute power it holds over the lives of Gaza’s residents.

What is the point in saying all of this? There is so much self-righteous noise and anger around this conflict already, fuelling hatred.  I’m not an expert on the region and I have no media organisation behind me any more, but I do have a moral compass. The cynical, merciless leadership of Israel and Gaza are the worst their people could possibly have at this point in time. To be clear, I distinguish between the Israeli state and army and the people of Israel. I distinguish between the planners and participants of October 7th and the people of Gaza. I recognise that both societies have a share of private and public dissent. And I trust the testimony of medical staff and independent humanitarian organisations.

This is not the time to peddle in denial or simplistic slogans. Such dishonesty is not the way out of this horror. After “Two Legs Bad, Four Legs Good”, we should all know that. Who will end Gaza’s agony? Only those who are inflicting it can end it.

On a local level, the grain of support I have goes to the political party in Switzerland showing the most concern for the people of Gaza, the Social Democrats (Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz). I also salute the efforts of the Irish government to stop the bloodshed.

The ongoing torment of Gaza is the biggest mistake in the shared history of the two sides. Because they do have a shared history and, more importantly, a shared future. By hurting each other, they’re hurting themselves. Their only viable future is as good neighbours. But where are the leaders who could take them there? Let’s hope they emerge when this nightmare ends. Israel and Palestine have never needed them so badly.