On October 7th last year, Hamas launched a large-scale, coordinated, surprise attack on Israel, which shocked the world. It involved rocket fire and ground assaults. It happened at a party at Kibbutz Re’im, 3 miles from the Gaza border where thousands of young people were attending a music festival. At dawn, the party was in full swing when small dots lined the sky, an image which to this day, haunts mainstream media. Those dots were motorized paragliders approaching from the direction of Gaza in the west. A siren went off, warning of incoming rockets, followed by gunshots. Some attendees tried to raise the alarm while others remained oblivious. This was Hamas’ surprise attack wherein more than 200 people were captured and taken as hostages to the Gaza strip.
Israel subsequently declared a state of war and under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a military campaign against Hamas with its fury centered on Gaza. In the densely-populated strip, at least 41,870 people have been killed since the start of the military offensive — a majority of them civilians. Global reactions have flown in thick and fast, condemning violence, calling for a ceasefire and expressing concern over the fate of those in Gaza. What began as a military conflict is now a humanitarian catastrophe.
Today, as the renewed Israel-Hamas conflict marks one year since it began, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, large explosions rocked southern Beirut for another night as Israeli forces continued to pound the Lebanese capital.
How do we view all this? How do we cope with the steady drumbeat of war in our backyard threatening to erode the foundation of life as we know it? Nearly four years ago, global media was all but focused on one word: PANDEMIC. The Coronavirus Pandemic gave struggling media organizations a lifeline and they grabbed it. News of death and loss followed medical breakthroughs and medical conspiracy theories. All of us lapped them up and eventually, moved on.
We survived the pandemic and were thrust into the era of War. Russia and Ukraine have been at it for more than 2 years now and there seems to be no resolution in sight. The Middle East is on the boil because of renewed tensions between old foes. The media cycle has let go of words like “contagious” and adopted words like “attack”. The steady drumbeat of war is getting louder and all of us are consuming the news are becoming immune to the rising death toll, the damage to property, the loss of home.
Is this war fatigue? Or is this the new normal?
Eglantyne Jebb, who founded Save The Children a century ago, had said the famous words, “Every war is a war against children”. This holds true more than ever today as an entire generation pays the price for the actions of adults.
As another war marks another anniversary, we must ask, what will be the fate of the Children of War? It is our future which is at stake after all.