The Israel Palestine Conflict

Talking to someone in Pakistan about the Israel-Palestine conflict is like banging your head in a wall, a really, really hard wall (a wall in which the bricks have been stuck together with super glue). You only have to say the word ‘Palestine’ and people go off like ‘’I know! Israel is such a sun of a gun! It should never have been allowed to exist in the first place! Now look how they’re killing the poor Palestinians.’’ Pointing out that Hamas was the one who started firing missiles has no effect at all. It leads to the argument that Palestinians are a displaced people. Israel was once their homeland and so Hamas is only trying to get back land that is technically Muslim territory. To me, this argument seems pretty valid, but it doesn't change the fact that there’s lots of bloodshed going on and there’s really no hope of ending the carnage until Hamas backs off. The thing is Hamas is just not strong enough to take on Israel. Israel has drones, nuclear power, better equipped troops, US support, while Hamas only has the support of a few Muslim countries. Now I get that the people within Gaza actually support Hamas and want their land in Israel back, but is it really worth all these deaths? Hamas democratically represents the people in Gaza, shouldn't it at least try to protect the people it represents? Shouldn't it follow more democratic procedures to get what it wants?  Also It’s clear Israel just needs an excuse for war. 318 Palestinian civilians have been killed up till now compared to a couple of unfortunate Israelis. Israel says that it’s targeting militants but it’s clear that civilians form a huge number of those killed. And in such a densely populated area it's practically impossible to prevent innocent deaths. There are protests going on all over the world. The government knows how many innocent people are dying. Isn’t that enough incentive to end the attack? Israel has bomb shelters and a missile defense systems. Hamas’s attacks are barely doing any damage. Shouldn't Israel stop it’s attacks and put more effort into negotiating a ceasefire?

 Now, I’m not an expert in these matters and I realize that the Israel-Palestinian Conflict is an intricate issue spanning several decades but this bloodshed really needs to end. It’s Ramadan and in ten days it’ll be Eid. It just kills me to think of Muslims spending Eid with enemy troops prowling the streets or in some stuffy UN shelter after half of their family’s dead. Israel needs to call a ceasefire. Hamas needs to suck up and accept it.