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The recen escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas, which has gone on for two weeks now and claimed thousands of lives, especially in the Gaza Strip, has elicited concerns from all parts of the world including from a famous Nigerian Catholic Bishop,It is really tragic, especially given that a lot could have been achieved.
PT: America has always had boots on the ground in Israel. We, however, recall that in 2021 it withdrew approximately 120 military and civilian personnel from that country. Are you saying the US needs to ramp up troops in Israel? How will that help the resolution of this crisis?Resolving this crisis requires a comprehensive and elaborate, all-encompassing strategy that appreciates the current geopolitical maps of the loci of power. The Middle East has changed drastically.
Perhaps, in collaboration with the UN, a Special Envoy with a sense of credibility and even-handedness can be appointed to keep things on track and ensure that Israel does not go into overdrive in its pursuit of Hamas while ensuring and overseeing a programme of gathering the pieces and planning for a long winter of discontentment and hope.
Those who shout about the injustice being done to Muslims in Palestine ask yourself, how many of them have branched to Palestine to see their condition on your way to the Middle East? I have been to Gaza and visited the Palestinian Authority Headquarters. I have been to the Israeli Knesset or Parliament. I have been taken around Jerusalem by Muslim and Jewish tour guides and heard and seen both sides. I have been to Jordan. I have seen these things firsthand due to my concerns.