Oscar Parry, Camden and Haringey Socialist Party
The Israeli military has again stepped up its barbarous assault on Gaza after breaking a fragile two-month ceasefire. Israeli ground forces are now occupying much of Gaza, two-thirds of the strip is under Israeli displacement orders or in ‘no-go’ zones. All crossings are completely closed for incoming supplies, and hundreds of thousands face the daily threat of starvation.
The Israeli state’s multi-front conflict with Iran-backed militias is escalating after a period of calm earlier in the year. As well as the truce in Gaza breaking down, the ceasefire with Hezbollah is under strain, with Israeli forces striking Lebanon’s capital of Beirut twice in the past week. The Houthis, based in Yemen, have been facing daily US attacks against their positions since mid-March. Donald Trump gleefully shared a video of one air strike which killed at least 31 people, including children.
International outrage erupted as a video emerged of Israeli forces shooting 15 paramedics and first responders in clearly marked vehicles near the southern Gazan city of Rafah. And two Labour MPs were denied entry into the country, accused of travelling to “document the security forces” and “spread hate speech”, sparking condemnation.
These actions by Netanyahu’s government don’t come from a position of strength. Netanyahu is attempting to ratchet up the conflict to try and shore up his political base as he comes under increasing pressure from protests within Israel. Israeli financial assets have been hit by a combination of the worsening conflict and rising tensions within the country – characterised by large protests over the government’s attempt to fire officials such as the attorney general and the head of the domestic intelligence service.
Israeli officials were shocked when Trump unveiled a 17% levy on the country’s goods. That made Israel one of the hardest-hit nations in the Middle East, despite Netanyahu’s closeness to Trump and it being the US’s main ally in the region. The move also came after Israel had said, just a day earlier, it would cancel customs duties on American products.
The root of the wars and the death and destruction we have seen is the capitalist system and its dash for profits. This has brought protests to the streets of the world, as the brutal reality of the system politicians support has been made clear. The only way out of endless conflict and economic instability in the Middle East is independent working-class action against all the capitalist elites.
The Socialist Party fights for:
- End the siege of Gaza and the occupation of all the Palestinian territories. For the permanent withdrawal of the Israeli military from those areas
- For a mass struggle of the Palestinians, under their own democratic control, to fight for liberation
- For the building of independent workers’ parties in Palestine and Israel and links between them
- For an independent, socialist Palestinian state, alongside a socialist Israel, with guaranteed democratic rights for all minorities, as part of the struggle for a socialist Middle East
- No trust in capitalist politicians internationally. Fight to build workers’ parties that stand for socialism and internationalism
