Ground forces in Gaza, air strikes in Lebanon

As the second flight carrying 235 Indian nationals leaves Israel under Operation Ajay, the biggest humanitarian crisis unfolds in the Middle East. Never a geography known for its peace, this region is today being touted as the possible linchpin for WW3.

It’s the 8th day of this non-stop violence between Hamas and the IDF, and as is with all kinds of war, the innocent civilians are the collateral damage. As of when we are writing this, Gaza has been bombed beyond recognition and over four lakh residents have been displaced - Making this the fastest-growing refugee situation. Egypt has been asked by the UN & the US to open their borders as the Gaza residents have been given 24 hours to evacuate their homeland.

Gaza has around 2.2 million people living in a very small stretch of land, and today, all of them face a fate worse than death. As of 14th October 2023, Israel has launched a full-scale ground operation into Gaza, with the supposed inclination to wipe Hamas from the face of the earth after the horrible terror attacks of 9th October when Hamas militants stormed into Israel and killed over 1000 civilians.

The fog of war also has found tremendous reach & footing in the world of social media, as almost every prominent social media has been flooded, by both sides, with nothing but instigating lies & violent imagery, intended to provoke people into unmindful actions. In a war like this, controlling the narration is supreme for any General, and both IDF & Hamas sympathisers are going whole hog on misinformation and information warfare.

There also have been rumours of Israel violating the Geneva Convention & human rights laws on many fronts. Which included the use of Phosphorus bombs, and cutting off the electricity, water and food supplies in Gaza, which led to the UN tweeting out a refresher course on the wartime rights of the civilians.

This hell seems to be just getting started. A battle that has been waging on for years, might finally have come to a boil. And like in every war, there will be unimaginably terrible things that will happen to the people, especially the women & children, who just seem to be treated like cannon fodder at this time.

All we can say about this developing story is that we want it all to stop. We want the loss of life, limb, livelihood and loved ones to end. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and yet war porn has had a resurgence in the social platforms. News channels also go out of their way to showcase and highlight the most graphic images and videos they can find in this race to get more eyeballs. And yet, basic humanity and empathy seems to be terribly missing from their coverage.

Know this, war never brought peace. War only begets more war. We have two very prominent fronts open today - Ukraine - Russia and Israel - Gaza. These include the biggest nuclear powers, and the mightiest military powers of today directly involved. Hundreds of millions perished in the last two world wars, also touted as the war to end all wars. Yet, here we are, heading in the same direction again, with bloodlust & gore in our eyes. Remember, war is hell.