As we mark one year since the start of Israel's devastating war on Gaza, which erupted after the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, it is staggering to think of the massive humanitarian toll and suffering that have since ensued. Over the past 12 months, Gaza has endured relentless ground invasions and airstrikes that have flattened entire neighbourhoods, destroyed vital infrastructure, and driven millions of Gazans from their homes. Even as we write this, reports have emerged of yet another deadly air strikes on a mosque and school housing displaced Palestinians, taking the total death toll to 41,870 with more than 97,000 injured.

All this to achieve what end? Could any end whatsoever justify the use of means that have long passed into the realm of genocide? To this day, Israel stands by its narrative: that its mission in Gaza is to neutralise Hamas. It does not matter that no one is buying into this narrative anymore. Emboldened by the support of its Western allies, Israel is now using the same excuse to ravage Lebanon. This time, its so-called target is Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that supported Hamas from the beginning. In the end, however, it is the innocent civilians who are having to pay for this, often with their lives. The fast-escalating conflict has now drawn in Syria and Iran through proxy forces, with the latter launching more than 180 missiles towards Israel last week.

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Gaza still bleeds

At this rate, fears of an all-out regional conflict in the Middle East look increasingly likely. Many have even begun to wonder if World War III is on the horizon, with the US presidential candidate Donald Trump also joining the bandwagon recently, despite himself being a supporter/enabler of Israel's war efforts. This, in other words, only underscores the duplicity of the US and other Western countries. Had they not blindly supported Israel, both militarily and diplomatically, throughout the past year, the Israeli government would not have been so emboldened to act with impunity and cause so much tragedy and destruction. As a BBC expert recently said, there are no "off-ramps" or deterrents convincing enough for Israel "unless the US and other major Western governments make it their business to change the direction of events on the ground."

That being the case, and with Israel showing no signs of heeding the countless warnings by the United Nations or the International Court of Justice, the onus really lies on Israel's Western allies to stop its forever war. They have delayed action for too long. They have consistently ignored calls for halting deliveries of arms feeding Israel's forces of death. That has to stop. One year on from the beginning of Israel's military campaign, they must do something decisive to force it to accept ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon before more territories are pulled into this meaningless conflict, and before it results in more unnecessary casualties.