West Asia: Just another deadly weekend, while world leaders ‘talk’

Egypt’s president Abdal-Fatteh al-Sisi had a chat on the phone with France's Emmanuel Macron over the escalating mess in the Middle East, reported the Xinhua news agency. An official statement from the Egyptian president's office said that the leaders agreed on the need for restraint and an end to the cycle of 'reciprocal targeting' in West Asia, and mentioned the two presidents had discussed the need for humanitarian aid into Gaza and agreed on respecting Lebanon's sovereignty.

On Friday, 25 October Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi had warned US secretary of state Antony Blinken — in the region on another 'diplomatic' mission — that what was taking place in Gaza was “ethnic cleansing” and insisted Israel must stop its war. On the same day, an Israeli strike on Khan Younis took out 14 children — 13 of them from a single family, reported Al Jazeera. Israeli strikes also called a total of 72-odd people in the Gaza strip that day.

Yesterday, 26 October (Saturday), while Israel attacked Iran in one of its famously 'precise and targeted' operations — a long-anticipated occurrence, of course, in vengeance for Tehran's earlier strike — the US and other Western allies saw fit to warn that there must be no 'retaliation' against Israel and America would stand to defend Israel if there were. Indeed, Blinken and President Joe Biden's offices went one better, declaring the US was ready to repel any attack.

While no leaders spoke up offering to repel Israel's attacks on Iran (or elsewhere), which therefore must be understood as 'justified' in 'self-defense', Tehran itself said most of the attacks had been repelled and the damage Israel inflicted quite limited.

Still, today's death toll from Iran stands at four. And even so, Iran has indicated it would be more keen on a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon than 'retaliating' against Israel.

What wasn't so 'limited' was the impact of Israel's strike on Beit Lahiya on Saturday.

Israel had earlier sent out a 'warning' to residents of southern Beirut to evacuate, but Beit Lahiya in Gaza got no such warning — possibly no one in Palestine needs any more, being in a constant state of alert for now 1 year and 20 days.

The Israeli strikes on 6 buildings in Beit Lahiya took out 45 people — and left Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last functional healthcare facility in northern Gaza, in a shambles. Per Palestinian health authorities, this brought the death toll from Israel's assault to 42,924 on Saturday.

Al Jazeera reports ambulances and medical equipment were left destroyed when the IDF withdrew from the hospital, not to mention medicines and healthcare essentials. The World Health Organization noted that 44 health workers at the hospital were 'detained'. Four ambulances destroyed, leaving donkey carts to be used for transporting the dead and wounded who could not be manually moved.

The Israeli 'siege' took place, said WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus, after a mission to deliver essential supplies to keep the hospital operational for its 600-odd patients.

The hospital director's son has reportedly been killed, for his refusal to abandon his post while under attack.

Stephanie Eller, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) mission in Gaza, described the situation in northern Gaza as "horrific" in a press briefing on Saturday.

She said, "Hospitals have been ordered to evacuate, which could result in the potential loss of medical services for many civilians who remain there, while those hospitals are already struggling with severe resource shortages as more wounded and sick people continue to arrive." Many civilians are unable to move due to the fighting, destruction, illness, or disabilities, she explained, adding that the situation is further complicated by unclear evacuation instructions, per Xinhua.

Some critically injured patients from Kamal Adwan had just been shifted to Al-Shifa Hospital, the one bright spot in this abhorrent situation.

In other good news, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was able to report that Iran's nuclear facilities had not been harmed by Israel's strikes on Saturday.

Several West Asian nations thought enough harm had already been perpetrated, however.

Jordan's foreign ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah called Israel's attack on Iran an infringement of Iran's sovereignty and a violation of international law, warning it was a serious escalation of tensions in the region, per Xinhua. He also called on the international community to 'assume responsibility' and act to stop Israel's aggression in the Gaza strip, the West Bank and Lebanon.

Oman had similar allegations against Israel and warned that Israel was fuelling a 'cycle of violence' that would lead to instability in the region.

UAE's foreign ministry urged 'maximum restraint' from all parties, while Syria — which experienced a simultaneous Israeli attack with Iran — denounced the 'brazen violation' of its own and Iran's sovereignty as well as the 'blatant breach' of the UN Charter as well as international law.

Iraq reiterated its solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran, reminding the international community of its earlier warning that its silence on the brutal actions of Israel would have severe consequences.

Iran told off the West for continuing to support Israel's 'occupation, illegal actions and crimes', while welcoming its condemnation by all 'peace-loving' nations within and beyond West Asia.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military's ground operations in Jabalia Camp, one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps, have continued for now 22 days, with the stated aim of preventing 'Hamas' from 'regrouping' for further attacks.

Lebanon's information minister Ziad Makary may have been stating the obvious — or what surely should have been obvious — when he called on journalists to avoid relying on Israeli sources or interacting with Israeli accounts on social media for 'information'.

We also saw 3 Lebanese journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Friday — not in the performance of their duty but while they were sleeping, per German media organisation DW, a key agency in a nation that has remained obdurately on Israel's side throughout this last year.

And amongst the 'detainees' from the Kamal Adwan Hospital 'raid' was teenaged independent journalist Aboud Battah. The youth was later recorded recounting the experience — though his trademark humour that gained the 17-year-old a following on TikTok was hard to come by in the circumstances.

US secretary Blinken also met with Lebanon's prime minister Najib Mikati in London this weekend, even as UN Peacekeepers reported their Lebanese observation post was fired on by Israel, per the same DW report.

The UN, of course, seems largely to be reduced to the status of helpless bystander in West Asia (as also, perhaps, elsewhere in the world). On 22 October, UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned the Israeli attack in Beirut near Rafik Hariri Hospital that killed 18 — while Israel stated it was not targeting the facility.

Early on 27 October, the UN could only note how the humanitarian situation is growing increasingly dire in Gaza, with people struggling to obtain a single load of bread as famine looms in the wake of clear systematic starvation and malnourishment of the population.

Turk did appeal to the world's leaders that in this moment in history, “Either the world ashamedly fails those who so desperately need help, or we stand united and put a stop to this.”

We understand our leaders are talking it over.

With IANS inputs