![Fresh Gaza Carnage](https://kashmirobserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EDITORIAL.jpg)
With the killing of around 500 Palestinians in the airstrike on a hospital in Gaza, the conflict in the Middle East has escalated dramatically. Though Israel has blamed the Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad for the attack, it has found fewer takers for its claims.
The incident has evoked strong international reactions. Russia and the United Arab Emirates, have called for a United Nations Security Council meeting, while the United Nations itself reported that an Israeli strike hit one of its schools where thousands of people were seeking shelter, resulting in casualties.
The hospital strike has turned the situation explosive.Thousands of people have taken to streets across the Middle East. Already an estimated 3,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in the 12 day conflict that started after Hamas militants killed around 1200 people in their attacks in Israeli cities. The uninterrupted Israeli bombardment of Gaza has forced civilians to seek refuge in and around hospitals in the hope of safety. But the strike on the hospital has made every place unsafe in the congested enclave. Israel has leveled swathes of Gaza, leaving it without functioning infrastructure and basic necessities. It has also cut off power, water, food, fuel, and medicine supplies, deepening an existing blockade.
It is time that the international community fixes the responsibility for the latest carnage in the war and holds Tel Aviv to account. Clarity and accountability are essential to preventing further loss of innocent lives and to working toward a solution to this long-standing conflict.
As the world watches and responds to this tragedy, it is crucial to remember the human cost of such events and to seek a path to peace that will spare the lives of countless innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
The volatile situation brought US president Joe Biden to Israel, although his meeting in Jordan with King Mohammad, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has been called off in the wake of the attack on hospital. The US has emphasized the need for Israel to carefully consider its plans for Gaza and avoid a ground invasion. This could lead to further escalation and pose a threat to stability in the region. The involvement of Hezbollah in the situation could potentially lead to a broader conflict.
That said, the conflict has yet again underlined the urgent imperative for an Israeli and Palestinian state living side by side. Further delay can only prolong the bloody conflict which has already been hanging fire for the past 76 years and has been one of the major causes for regional and global instability.