Attacks on aid convoys take ugliness of war to a new level

War is an ugly business. It is the manifestation of a political failure that results in the most vulnerable paying the heaviest price for the incompetence and recklessness of their leaders. But amid the inferno of bloodshed, devastation and destruction, there are also acts of extreme kindness by those who risk their lives to save others or to provide humanitarian aid.

Over the last eight months, many people have lost their lives while carrying out such acts of selflessness, as was starkly illustrated by the horrific deaths in an Israeli airstrike of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen while they were providing food to starving Gazans. Then there are the 189 employees of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees across the region, who have been killed since the beginning of the war.

Right at the other end of the spectrum, there are also extreme cases of absolutely hideous behavior on the part of those for whom the war brings out the very worst version of themselves and of humanity.

One such example of extreme and obnoxious deeds is that of the far-right hoodlums, many of them illegal settlers based in the West Bank, who have been attacking trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. With their thuggish behavior, they have been blocking the passage of trucks, assaulting their drivers and destroying the goods that millions of people in Gaza are desperate to get their hands on. Should these assailants need a reminder, this is not the Judaism that believes in “love thy neighbor as thyself” and “what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow,” which are two of the most important pillars of Jewish religion and culture.

A mutual loss of empathy might be one of the most detrimental legacies of the war when it comes to future peace

Yossi Mekelberg

The post-Oct. 7 collective trauma that much of Israeli society continues to suffer from has led many to lose any empathy they may have had for the Palestinian people, especially those in Gaza. But they need a firm reminder that to lose all consideration for the well-being of their fellow humans is to lose one’s humanity itself, especially when those who have suffered terrible losses then target those who have also suffered immense misery. For the Israeli and Palestinian communities, this mutual loss of empathy might remain one of the most detrimental legacies of the war when it comes to future peace, coexistence and reconciliation.

Extreme right-wing violence in Israel goes back 75 years, with it being used against political rivals as well as ordinary Palestinians. Attacking and destroying humanitarian aid to Gaza is just another facet of it — and a most abhorrent one. There are those Israelis, most of them settlers or their supporters, who completely demonize and dehumanize the Palestinians and respect neither Israeli nor international law. These sinister operators are hell-bent on igniting more conflict with the Palestinians, and probably with other countries in the region, in the name of their distorted ideology of religious nationalism.

Regardless of all evidence to the contrary, as we are witnessing both in Gaza and along the border with Lebanon, these extreme elements believe that Israel could already have won these wars had the government only been determined enough. They astoundingly believe that such a victory is a religious and moral imperative.

These actions of blocking, vandalizing and torching aid convoys are neither spontaneous nor mindless — though they would be just as vile if they were — but are well-coordinated by an organization named Tzav 9 (Order 9), with the support of a small minority of family members of the hostages in Gaza. The organization claims to be nonpartisan, but its rhetoric is identical to that of the far-right and the settler movement.

One can understand, even sympathize, with the anger and sorrow of the hostages’ families. After all, they are trapped between a Hamas that treats their loved ones with cruelty and a heartless Israeli government for whom the return of the hostages is not a priority. But it is to these that the families should direct their anger, not the other victims of this war.

Of further concern is that these political thugs have representatives in the Knesset and Cabinet, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who only last month declared that the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza should be promoted and, together with other Cabinet ministers, called for the resettling of Gaza by Israelis. Astonishingly, it was reported in British newspaper The Guardian that members of the Israeli security forces have been tipping off groups that attack the aid trucks with their location.

Violent situations create the space for extreme movements that are nourished by hatred and fear of the other

Yossi Mekelberg

If one connects this violence against humanitarian aid — which reflects a view that starving and preventing medical aid from reaching civilians in Gaza is legitimate — to the ambition of reoccupying and resettling the Strip, along with the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and to the broader scenario of widespread and endemic settler violence, it all adds up to a plan of complete Jewish control of Eretz (Greater or Biblical) Israel.

Those who promote these ideas might not be a majority in society or the political system, but they are very effective at exploiting their electoral base in the Knesset and Cabinet. They are able to promote their ideological, criminal activities because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depends on them for his political survival, while their political and ideological rivals are unable to counter them.

The revolting act of so-called activists tearing open bags of flour, hurling food to the ground, stamping on boxes of aid and puncturing truck tires has not only sparked controversy abroad, but also prompted Israeli, Arab and Jewish members of the Standing Together organization to step in to guard the convoys, which has, at least for now, yielded some success. Nevertheless, first and foremost it is the task of law enforcement agencies to crack down on political violence, let alone not to collaborate with it, whether this relates to habitual settler violence in the Occupied Territories or the vandalizing of government-approved aid convoys on their way to Gaza.

The inability and the reluctance to bring the war in Gaza to an end, alleviate the suffering of millions of people there and bring the hostages back home pushes to the surface many raw emotions, while also allowing extremists to dictate the agenda and further delay a much-needed ceasefire. Violent situations create the space for extreme movements that are nourished by hatred and fear of the other, but it is the task of every decent society not only to marginalize them but also to make sure they feel the full force of the law.

After all, the attacks on aid convoys and the destruction of supplies that could make the difference between life and death for people in Gaza are not just an obvious stain on those who commit these crimes, but also on those who refuse to prevent them.

• Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at international affairs think tank Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg