Israels letzte Chance

Franklin Foer: “When Hamas bulldozed its way across the Gaza fence on October 7, 2023, it hoped to eventually provoke the opprobrium that’s now flowing in Israel’s direction. Launching its carnival of murder, rape, and kidnapping, the group wagered that it could bait its enemy into moral blunders that would discredit it in the eyes of the world.

“That vision is now unfolding as mass hunger engulfs the Gaza Strip, and images of starving children crumble American support for Israel. The fact that Hamas ignited this chain of events, and that it could end the war if wanted to, does nothing to absolve Israel of its primary role in the food crisis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government bears responsibility for policies that are now depriving Gazans of adequate nourishment and may soon kill them in staggering numbers. It was his cabinet that imposed a blockade on Gaza starting on March 2. The measure was eventually reversed under international pressure. Still, the subsequent damage was a deliberate choice, because even after Israel lifted its siege, it further limited the ability of the United Nations to distribute relief.

“Israel executed these policies in the name of achieving Netanyahu’s implausible goal of ‘total victory.’ Food, in his government’s analysis, had become a weapon used by Hamas to sustain its fighters, reward loyalty, and replenish its armaments through black-market profiteering. The United Nations, Israeli officials believed, was at best excessively tolerant of terrorists in Gaza. By wresting control of aid distribution from the world organization, Israel hoped to cut Hamas off from one of its last remaining sources of power.

“But the policy has failed on its own terms. Hamas is no closer to surrendering or releasing hostages than before Israel embarked on its campaign of deprivation. A movement animated by theological fervor—and strengthened by the spectacle of civilian suffering—cannot be starved into submission. And now that the toll of hunger is becoming so clear, Israel has an obligation to reverse course as quickly as possible.

“When there is hunger, the blazingly obvious solution is food. Humanitarian groups have a cliché for what’s needed in Gaza: ‘flooding the zone’ with food. That would require Israel to lift restrictions and bureaucratic impediments that it has imposed on the UN agencies it loathes.

“Flooding the zone is not just a humanitarian imperative; it is a strategic one for Israel. The food crisis is alienating bedrock allies in the U.S. Congress. When Israel launched its response to the atrocities of October 7, with the goal of dismantling Hamas, I considered the war just and necessary. But international law prohibits some tactics in order to protect the innocent and to prevent the perverse exigencies of conflict from disfiguring the soul of the warrior. Even if Israel is prepared to endure international isolation, allegiances it once considered unbreakable won’t survive famine. By flooding the zone, Israel would be rescuing itself.”

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