Palestinians have been bombed every day since UAE-Israel normalisation

The Middle East woke up to the announcement of a controversial peace agreement between the UAE and Israel a week ago as the residents of the Gaza Strip, which is the only enclave not under Israeli occupation, woke up to another day with bombs coming from Israel. 

Today marks the tenth consecutive day of Israeli bombing over Gaza, where two million Palestinians live with limited food, electricity and water supplies for years, as no Arab state has stepped up to condemn Tel Aviv’s campaign. 

“For the past 10 days Israel has bombed Gaza every night, terrorising the population. In addition, the only surviving electricity power plant has run out of fuel, plunging the tiny strip into darkness and impacting on all aspects of normal life,” said Kamel Hawwash, a British-Palestinian commentator and professor, who is the Vice Chair of the British Palestinian Policy Council (BPPC).

While Israel and its Arab allies have been busy normalising their relations with the state, Tel Aviv has made the daily bombing of Palestinians the new normal in the Middle East. 

“The recent agreement to normalise relations between Israel and the UAE, has not brought peace to the strip but rather made an already terrible existence worse,” Hawwash told TRT World. 

While the Gaza Strip is not occupied by Israel, it has been under an intense Israeli siege since June 2007. 

The bombing has not resulted in any deaths but seven injuries have been reported so far. Agricultural areas, civilian infrastructure and even schools have been targeted during Israeli air strikes.

A 2012 UN report projected that Gaza would eventually become “unlivable” by 2020 if current trends have continued. In 2020, when the deadly coronavirus hits not only Palestine, which has inadequate medical equipment and staff to fight with the pandemic but also hits the whole world, the living standards of Gazans have dipped even lower. 

But under the hardliner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, which has gone through three inconclusive elections in the last 12 months, has not stopped pounding Gaza. 

“On top of the hardships brought about by a 14-year-old siege and three major wars, Israel chooses to lash out against it on a regular basis, including for political reasons,” said Hawwash. 

Both Israelis and their new Arab allies have ignored the Palestinian plight as they continued to celebrate the new peace deal, which offers nothing to the Palestinians. 

“Real peace can only be achieved when the Palestinian people’s aspirations for freedom, justice and equality are realised, including a lifting of the siege on Gaza and an end to the use of 2 million Palestinians as a political football in Netanyahu’s hand,” Hawwash concluded.