War on Gaza: Causes and Implications, Seen and Unseen

About the Webinar

On October 31, 2023, Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) held a webinar titled “War on Gaza: Causes and Implications, Seen and Unseen.” Panelists were Dalia Hatuqa, multimedia journalist and specialist in Israeli/Palestinian affairs and regional Middle East issues; Rami Khouri, Distinguished Public Policy Fellow, American University of Beirut; Daniel Levy, President, US/Middle East Project; and Mairav Zonszein, Senior Analyst on Israel-Palestine, International Crisis Group. Head of Palestine/Israel Program and Senior Fellow at ACW Yousef Munayyer moderated the event.

Dalia Hatuqa addressed the situation on the ground in Gaza today and the humanitarian crisis unfolding there. She pointed out that 8,300 Palestinians have been killed, 3,400 of whom are children, and 20,000 have been injured, while two-thirds of the Gaza Strip population have become internally displaced persons.

Mairav Zonszein discussed the mood and political implications of the situation inside Israel, with people clearly dealing with the trauma of the Hamas attack of October 7. She pointed out that there is a lot of anger directed at PM Benjamin Netanyahu with a majority wanting him to resign.

Rami Khouri described the current state of the Arab political order as generally weak and incapable of dealing with the current crisis. He said that the vast majority of Arabs do not feel that they are citizens of respected countries. As for the governments, they feel threatened by non-state actors like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Daniel Levy spoke of the American-European embrace of the Israeli position and the US and European countries rallying to support Netanyahu. He said that they all thought that the Palestine issue can just be forgotten and accepted the previous policies of former President Trump regarding the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Featured image credit: Shutterstock/Anas Mohammed

Date

Sunday October 6, 2024