The most fierce conflict between Palestine and Israel in 7 years, the U.S. "dual standard" approach lays the blame
The Middle East "Powder Keg" was ignited again
The Middle East "powder keg" was ignited again.
Since Ramadan in mid-April, the conflict between Palestine and Israel has continued to escalate, and the number of casualties has continued to rise.
A UN official warned that the conflict is "escalating into a full-scale war."
Over the years, one of the most violent hostilities in the Middle East continues, with no end in sight.
The United States continues to obstruct the intervention of the Security Council, and its irresponsible "pull the sidestep" behavior has caused an escalation of violent actions, leading to more civilian deaths.
On May 15, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out in response to the current Palestine-Israel conflict that the fundamental solution to the Palestinian issue lies in the implementation of the "two-state plan."
The causes of the Palestine-Israel conflict are complex, touching many "sensitive nerves" such as territories and settlements, holy land ownership, and religious rights.
In the view of Ma Xiaolin, professor of Zhejiang University of Foreign Languages and dean of the Central Mediterranean Research Institute, the causes of the Palestine-Israel conflict are complicated. There are specific historical legal disputes over the property rights of Palestinian and Israeli residents, as well as Palestinian-Israeli sovereignty over the ownership of the "sacred land". Interests, as well as factors such as Israel’s illegal expansion of settlements.
One of the direct fuse was that the Palestinian people were prevented from going to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to worship.
On April 12th local time, Palestinian Muslims ushered in the traditional Islamic Ramadan.
As usual, tens of thousands of Palestinians went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in the "Noble Forbidden Site" (called the Temple Mount in Israel) in the Old City of Jerusalem, to conduct religious services.
However, near the Damascus Gate into the old city, the road was "blocked": Israeli police set up a large number of roadblocks on the grounds of "prevention and control of the epidemic" and "guaranteeing safety" to restrict Palestinians from entering parts of the old city.
The "respectful forbidden land" (called the Temple Mount by the side) is both the holy land of Islam and Judaism, and has long been the focus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“According to the status of Jerusalem’s multi-religious holy land, Israel is obliged to guarantee the free access of Muslims. However, during Ramadan this year, Israel’s measures to restrict or even drive out Muslim visitors have ignited the anger of the Palestinians.” Middle East Studies at Shanghai International Studies University Professor Ding Long said.
Another fuse is the dispute surrounding the Sheikh Jala area.
The Sheikh Jala area is a Palestinian residential area in East Jerusalem. Before and after Ramadan this year, 12 Palestinian families living there received an expulsion decision from an Israeli court.
This move was seen as an attempt by the Israeli government to use coercive means to expand Jewish settlements in the area, which directly led to large-scale protests by the Palestinian people and developed into a fierce conflict between the protesters and the Israeli police.
On the evening of May 7, local time, a large number of Palestinian people went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to protest. Israeli police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bombs to disperse the people.
On the same day, in the Sheikh Jalah area, Palestinians gathered to demonstrate near houses that were requested to be evacuated by Israel, while Israeli police used high-pressure water guns to disperse the crowd.
During the clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque from May 7th to 9th, more than 20 Israeli police officers and more than 300 Palestinians were injured.
May 10 coincided with Israel's commemoration of "Jerusalem Day" when it occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. The two sides renewed conflict and injured more than 200 people.
Ding Long believes that this round of conflict has touched the "sensitive nerves" of many Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, such as territories and settlements, holy land ownership, and religious rights. It also coincides with sensitive time points such as Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, and Israel’s "Jerusalem Day." Soon, it quickly escalated into a military conflict.
"It can be said that this is a concentrated outbreak of the'all elements' of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
Air strikes have caused more than 1,000 casualties and many Palestinian civilians have been forcibly displaced
The scene of Israeli police breaking into the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the conflict completely ignited the dissatisfaction of the Palestinians.
The conflict is no longer confined to the police and the public. Hamas (the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement) subsequently launched a rocket attack called the "Holy City Sword" from the Gaza Strip to Israel, and the Israel Defense Forces launched a land and sea codenamed "Operation Defence". Empty retaliation strikes.
In less than a week, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired thousands of rockets at Israel, and the Israel Defense Forces have carried out a series of air strikes and shelling on the Gaza Strip.
"The house was blown up in an air raid, and the smoke was very choking. We ran out and fled to this school. I don't know what will happen next..." A Palestinian girl named Emina witnessed it with her own eyes The Israeli air raid blew up her home.
Under the artillery fire, many Palestinians were forced to flee their homes.
According to a UN official on May 14, there are currently about 10,000 people displaced in the Gaza Strip.
More and more civilians are suffering casualties.
On May 15, local time, at least eight children in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip were killed in an air strike launched by Israel.
According to the Palestinian health department, in addition to eight children, two adults were killed in the airstrike. This was one of the worst single attacks in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Subsequently, according to Israeli military news, armed groups such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip have launched more than 280 rockets into central and southern Israel. One of the rockets hit a building in the central city of Ramat Gan, causing 1 An Israeli died.
The Israeli city of Tel Aviv also repeatedly sounded air defense sirens, and thousands of residents fled to shelters.
On May 16, local time, figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health showed that since the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli war on May 10, 174 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings, including 47 minors and 1,200. Many people were injured.
Up to now, this battle, which is currently dominated by rockets and air strikes, is still ongoing, and Israel has mobilized a large number of troops in the Gaza border area, it is possible to launch ground military operations, and the armed conflict between the two sides may further escalate.
On May 14, local time, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres issued a statement calling on all parties to immediately stop fighting in Gaza and Israel. "Continued military escalation has brought serious suffering and destruction, which may cause uncontrollable Security and humanitarian crisis."
In order to avoid turning its attention back to the Middle East, the United States continues to obstruct the Security Council’s adoption of resolutions condemning Israel.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to ferment, causing widespread concern in the international community.
Faced with intensified conflicts, members of the UN Security Council generally demand that the Security Council play its due role to promote the stability and cooling of the situation and prevent loss of control.
However, the United States has repeatedly blocked the intervention of the UN Security Council.
Since May 10, the Security Council has convened two meetings to discuss the situation between Palestine and Israel, but neither reached a consensus.
Among the 15 member states, only the United States voted a "no", so that the United Nations has been unable to issue a joint statement so far.
"Israel has the right to self-defense." On May 12 local time, US President Biden made a clear statement, expressing "firm support" for Israel's "self-defense."
However, just before that, Price, the spokesperson of the US State Department, avoided the question of "Do Palestinians have the right to self-defense" and called this a "legal issue."
According to Yu Guoqing, a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the United States’ position is not unexpected. The purpose of the United States to hinder the Security Council’s intervention is to buy time and beneficial results for Israel’s military operations and goals in the United Nations. “Next, the United States may We will try our best to prevent the Security Council from issuing declarations or resolutions that are detrimental to Israel. On the other hand, the United States will also maintain consultations with the major Central ASEAN countries to a certain extent to appease the anti-Israeli sentiment in the Arab countries."
"The United States should be responsible for the bloody conflict in East Jerusalem." Recently, British writer, political and international issues expert Tom Foday published an article on the "Russia Today" website, saying that the current conflict is essentially the Trump administration. The direct cumulative product of the pro-Israel policy, and Biden only seeks to maintain rather than challenge this policy.
"The main energy of the Biden administration at this stage is to deal with domestic problems, such as fighting the new crown epidemic, restoring the economy, and bridging the tears in American society. In the eyes of today's American politicians, the highlight is not the Middle East issue at all, but the so-called'superpower competition'. "." Dong Manyuan, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said that what the United States is doing at present is to appease Israel, and its purpose is to serve the United States' need to solve domestic problems.
Biden hopes to avoid falling into the quagmire of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the current situation may make it difficult for him to do so.
The deep root of the Palestine-Israel conflict is that successive U.S. governments have not taken a fair stand on the Palestine-Israel issue to resolve the issue.
In fact, the hidden dangers of the escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict have already been deeply planted.
"This conflict is the outburst of long-suppressed anger from Pakistan," Ding Long said.
Since the Gaza War in 2014, geopolitics in the Middle East have undergone tremendous changes.
Arab countries are busy responding to the aftershocks of the "Arab Spring". Many countries have established diplomatic relations with Israel under the cooperation of the United States. The Palestinian-Israeli issue has been severely marginalized, and isolated Palestinians have begun to fight alone.
During this period, the United States was considered to blindly favor Israel, driving the Palestinians into desperation.
Especially during the Trump administration, the United States left international law and moral ethics behind, constantly breaking through the bottom line, leading the Palestinian-Israeli peace process astray.
In December 2017, Trump announced that the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and decided to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The United States also closed the PLO representative office in the United States and stopped donating to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees in the Near East, which exacerbated the plight of the Palestinian people.
After Biden took office, although he withdrew part of the Trump administration's decision on the Palestinian-Israeli issue and expressed continued support for the "two-state solution," supporting Israel is the basic national policy of the United States. There is no difference between the two parties on this point.
"This American practice has planted a'deep resentment' in the hearts of Palestinians." Palestinian-American political analyst Khalil Jahshan said.
The United States ignores the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity of other countries and arbitrarily slaughters the core interests of other countries, becoming a bad example of trampling on international law.
"It is true that some Middle Eastern countries have signed security agreements with the United States and rely on the'security guarantees' provided by the United States. However, in general, what the United States has brought to the Middle East is not great governance but great chaos. The United States has been constantly out of selfishness and hegemonic conspiracy. To cause trouble and chaos in the Middle East, even at the cost of relying on the Middle East. It is by no means an'angel in the world', but a'Plague God' that the people of the Middle East want to send and find it difficult to send away." Ma Xiaolin said.
If the Palestinian issue is not just resolved in one day, Palestine-Israel and the Middle East will not be able to achieve true peace.
In the face of ongoing fierce conflict, multiple organizations issued statements condemning Israel's violation of the rights of the Palestinian people.
On May 11, local time, the League of Arab States (Arab League) held an emergency video conference to discuss Israeli violations against Palestinians in Jerusalem.
The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Gates, stated that Israel’s actions violated international law and violated the legitimate rights of the Palestinians to hold religious activities in religious sacred sites.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also stated that Israel’s “barbaric attacks” on Muslims in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and restrictions on their freedom have hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world and have seriously violated relevant international laws. It requires Israel to take responsibility for the escalation of the situation and stop. It affects regional security and stability.
On the other hand, in addition to the United States’ support for Israel’s “right to self-defense,” German Foreign Minister Mas also condemned the attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. He said that in this case, Israel has the right to self-defense and called for the immediate termination of the rocket. Bomb attack.
Austrian Chancellor Kurz hung an Israeli flag on the top of the Chancellery as a support. "We stand on Israel's side together."
The recurring ulcer-like conflicts between Palestine and Israel show that without a fair settlement of the Palestine issue a day, Palestine-Israel and the Middle East will not be able to achieve true peace.
"The violent cycle of grievances will only increase the difficulty of conflict resolution and make peace even more distant in the foreseeable. Deviating from the solution path of the'two-state solution' and deviating from the right track of negotiating to resolve the problem will only result in a'lose-lose' or even a'lose-to-lose' situation "Ding Long said.
The "two-state solution", namely the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and peaceful coexistence with Israel, is supported by a number of UN resolutions.
"China believes that the Security Council should reconfirm the'Two-State Plan' and urge Palestine and Israel to resume peace talks on the basis of the'Two-State Plan' as soon as possible. China will continue to firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their national legal rights and firmly support the adoption. Political dialogue can justly resolve current issues, and firmly support the United Nations, the League of Arab States, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to play a constructive role in this regard." Wang Yi said.
According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China, as the rotating chairman of the United Nations Security Council in May, held an emergency public meeting of the Security Council on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on May 16.
China hopes that through the emergency public meeting of the Security Council, all parties will promptly cease hostilities and resume political dialogue as soon as possible. At the same time, the international community, especially the Security Council, will play an active role in easing tensions and politically resolving the Middle East issue.
There is no doubt that when a war breaks out, civilians always bear the brunt and suffer the most.
At a time when a large number of Palestinians are involved in war and suffering, the United States, which has always said that it "carries about the human rights of Muslims," also needs to use actual actions to prove to the world that the so-called "human rights diplomacy" is not a double-standard farce.
(Our reporter Li Yunshu Chai Yaxin)