Peace efforts in the Middle East should never stop

Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip with missiles and airstrikes for more than a week, and might continue to do so until domestic fury subsides. Despite some countries' efforts to broker a cease-fire and restore peace, even if temporarily, the attacks from both sides, more so from the Israeli side, might not stop now.

But the conflict cannot go on forever, and the problem can be solved only through dialogue.

In recent years, the Israeli government's ruthless restrictions on the Palestinians have made them feel humiliated. Perhaps that's the reason behind Hamas' outburst on Saturday. This is not to justify Hamas' horrific attack on the kibbutz, though.

Due to the power disparity between the two sides, the possibility of Israel's ground attack of Gaza is very high, especially because the United States has announced that Israel has the right to "defend" itself and therefore pound the Gaza Strip with impunity.

But if the humanitarian crisis worsens, the international community's response is something Israel will have to consider. Israel's goal, this time, seems to be to destroy Hamas, so that it no longer poses a threat to Israel.

Israel has now asked people in northern Gaza to move to the south, possibly because it intends to occupy all of northern Gaza and turn it into a "safe zone". But the deeper Israel presses into Gaza, the stronger the Palestinian resistance will be. So the international community should make all-out efforts to restore peace, especially by appealing to the good senses of the Israelis.

The Joe Biden administration has responded to the tragedy unfolding in Gaza with an eye to the 2024 presidential election, because the influence of the Jewish group on US politics is obvious.

On the other hand, Washington does not want chaos in the Middle East. The US' focus is on the Asia-Pacific, so it wants to "control" the Middle East with as little input as possible. That's why it wants to deter other parties from providing military aid to the Palestinians.

The "two-state solution" agreed by the two sides, as well as the US, has all but been forgotten, because the Western world seems squarely behind Israel. But at least in the name of humanity, the international community should find ways to implement the two-state solution and restore the land and dignity of the Palestinian people. That's the least the international community should do.