Urgent need to end Palestine-Israel conflict: China Daily editorial

With the deadliest Palestine-Israel conflict in half a century that began with a massive Hamas assault on Israel on Saturday entering the third day on Monday, the bloodshed, rising number of casualties and economic damage on both sides reveal the horrors of war.

It is imperative therefore that both sides exercise restraint to prevent further casualties. For that, however, the international community has to play an impartial role and persuade the two sides to declare a cease-fire while ratcheting up efforts to address the decades-old conflict by reviving the Middle East peace process so that the vicious circle of tit-for-tat attacks ends once and for all.

The Hamas attack coincided with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah and brought back memories of the 1973 war which began with a surprise attack on Yom Kippur.

On the surface, the militant group Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip started the ongoing conflict by launching a sudden, multi-pronged attack on Israeli targets on an unprecedented scale on Saturday morning. Hamas fighters even breached the border wall and entered Israeli territory to unleash mayhem in the southern and central parts of the country, and took some Israeli "prisoners of war".

But the fact is, the Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, have become desperate as an increasing number of Palestinian families have been forcibly evicted from their homes as Israel continues to expand the occupied territories. Not to mention the number of Palestinians, both militants and civilians, killed by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank is the highest in two decades.

That Israel, which has a strong intelligence apparatus and a closely guarded border with Gaza, was caught unawares and defenseless against the first wave of attacks on Saturday has surprised many observers. But the massive counteroffensive Israel has launched on hundreds of targets in Gaza has resulted in heavy casualties on the Palestinian side.

Given that Hamas is no match for Israeli military muscle, the imminent civilian casualties in Gaza in the wake of Israeli retaliation should raise global concern as more than 2 million Palestinians live in what is known as the world's most densely populated strip of land.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already declared that his country is "in a state of war" and vowed to reduce to "rubble" Hamas hideouts in Gaza. As Western countries, led by the United States, have all thrown their weight behind Israel, Israeli fury could turn Gaza into an inferno.

But the need of the hour is to prevent any escalation of the conflict. And since the current peace process in the Middle East appears untenable given the recurring conflicts, the only way to resolve the Israel-Palestine crisis is for the international community to come together and establish an independent state of Palestine.