Will peace return to Gaza?

The number of Indians working in Israel has doubled to 40,000 after their conflict began with Hamas around two years back. “We have replaced Palestinian workers in the construction sector by Indians after the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023,” Israel’s Ambassador to India Reuven Azar told Business India. “Indians were traditionally employed as care-givers in Israel, but, as we did not have enough construction workers and labourers, the number of Indians employed in these areas has doubled to 40,000 at present”. People have been recruited either through government channels or the private sector.

Meanwhile, Israel and India are negotiating on a bilateral investment treaty, which could be finalised during the course of this year. “Logistics is a challenge right now, as there are no direct flights between India and Israel,” he added. “Once the flights resume, we will be able to further expand our bilateral relations”.

The partnership between India and Israel is mainly in the defence sector, agriculture and education. “Under the aegis of ‘Make in India’ programme, we have gone for joint production in defence companies,” the ambassador explained. From radars to drones, we are manufacturing a lot of products together. We also have co-operation in R&D”.

‘Now, there are talks about a ceasefire too,’ he informed, commenting on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, which has led to the death of over 60,500 Palestinians. “However, the ceasefire has to include the release of our 50 hostages (some of them are dead) and we want Hamas to renounce their stake in Gaza,” he insisted. “Also, we would like to establish a permanent security presence in Gaza to ensure that an incident like the 7 October incident doesn’t recur”.

Reward for terrorism?

Ambassador Azar also expressed his disappointment with the countries (such as the UK, Canada, France and Australia), which had said they would recognise Palestine as a state during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in September. “First of all, their announcements have ruined the chances of achieving a ceasefire, because Hamas has been encouraged by these statements,” remarked Azar. “They have actually taken credit for it”.

He went on to state that these countries seem to have forgotten what happened on 7 October; these statements sounded more like a reward for terrorism. These countries seem to be detached from reality.

Israel has said that, amongst those who died in Gaza, nearly 25 per cent were supporters of Hamas. These countries have also ignored reports that suggest there is a famine-like situation in Gaza. “We have sent substantial supplies to Gaza,” he contended. “It’s the Hamas, which is sitting on the supplies. Those who have died had co-morbidities. I would like to add that many of the civilians who died during our targeted attacks were close to the terror targets too”.

According to reports, nearly 200 journalists died during the conflict. The ambassador said that those who died were Hamas supporters. “Anas Alsharif who, according to the Palestinians, was a journalist, was taking pictures with leaders of Hamas. He was seen taking part in other activities of Hamas too; so, for us, he wasn’t a journalist,” he informed.

Meanwhile, there has been talk of a ceasefire and one has to wait to see whether it’s accepted or not. There are two plans – one is a 60-day time frame for seeing the working of the agreement, and the other is immediate.

There are also talks of having elections in Palestine. The Western nations that have supported the election announcement have clearly stated that Hamas should not be a part of the election process. Only time will tell when the ceasefire will come into effect and also, once it does, whether there will be lasting peace and stability.