Commentary: Gaza needs truce rather than arms

People are seen on a street with damaged buildings near the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, on April 1, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed Ali/Xinhua)

BAGHDAD, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Israel-Hamas conflict, which has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, has lasted for half a year. Amidst this tragedy, the actions of the United States, Israel's key ally, have sparked serious concerns and criticism among the international community.

While Washington claims to advocate for a ceasefire in the war-devastated Palestinian enclave, its actions have repeatedly contradicted its words. In the latest case, when the U.S. verbally criticized Israel for killing seven aid workers from the international food charity World Central Kitchen in Gaza on April 1, it approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK-82 500-pound bombs and more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs to Israel on the same day.

It has been apparent that Washington's criticism of Israel serves merely as a smokescreen to divert global public opinion pressure, as its real stance has been let bare by its continued delivery of weapons to Israel during the Gaza conflict.

For American politicians, the political obligation to shield its ally from accountability outweighs the urgent need to end the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Gaza conflict has already cost the lives of more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. And the United Nations warned in March that 1.1 million people in Gaza, or half of the population, are struggling with hunger due to the suffocating blockade imposed by Israel.

A boy mourns over the body of his relative in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on April 1, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

On April 5, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution urging countries to cease arms supplies to Israel. Yet the United States opposed it, simply because it is the key arms supplier for Israel. According to former and sitting U.S. officials, since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, the U.S. has organized more than 100 individual transfers of arms to Israel, with only two made public.

On March 25, the UN Security Council finally adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after the U.S. repeatedly blocked previous UN resolutions aimed at achieving a truce. To everyone's surprise, the U.S., which abstained from the vote, declared the resolution as "non-binding," despite the fact that the UN Security Council resolutions are legally binding.

The words and actions of the U.S. government on the Gaza conflict have not only challenged the authority of the UN Security Council but also hindered the international efforts to restore peace in Gaza.

Responding to the rising international pressure, the U.S. has staged a political show of peacemaking by sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials to the region several times to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza, which should be easily achieved if Washington really wants to do so. And the U.S. has also airdropped batches of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which paled in comparison to its massive delivery of arms to Israel.

The international community is waiting to see fewer hollow gestures and more concrete actions from the U.S., which should take the first step, at least, to halt its arms supplies to Israel.

Photo taken on April 1, 2024 shows destroyed buildings near the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. (Photo by Mohammed Ali/Xinhua)