Opinion | Israel-Gaza war: peace can only be achieved if we all pull together

As popular support grows for the Israeli bombardment to stop, the US finds itself increasingly isolated, even at odds with traditional allies that support a Gaza ceasefire

Like the children’s story Pulling the Radish, if the world acts as one, a solution can be found to the crisis that brings lasting peace

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Published: 5:30am, 1 Jan 2024Updated: 6:41am, 1 Jan 2024

I am a mother; my son is 20 months old. His favourite story at the moment is Pulling the Radish. There are many versions of this classic but the idea is the same: you can’t pull it up by yourself. You can only succeed with help. Unity brings more strength.

I can’t help but associate it with the world we live in. There are simple truths told plainly in children’s stories. We want our children to hold on to those truths, but as adults, we seem to have left them behind.

One of the most devastating tragedies in 2023 has been the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, the result of the latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 20,000 Palestinians have died since October 7.

That is nearly 1 per cent of the territory’s pre-war population. About 70 per cent of those killed have been women and children. Over half a million people in Gaza – a quarter of the population – are starving, according to the UN, and the risk of famine is increasing due to insufficient aid entering Gaza.

I could barely watch the news of the displaced and all the civilian deaths, especially of babies. Since I became a mother, any bad news about children makes me extremely uncomfortable. I wish only to see children, no matter where they are, grow up in love and peace with abundant choices of food, toys; everything.

But the brutal reality in Gaza is a head-on blow, a reminder that this remains a wish. Premature babies are dying without incubators, children are having limbs amputated without anaesthesia … One of the most frequent words heard in interviews of Gaza residents is “numb”. Tired of being afraid, they have grown numb to the seemingly endless conflicts, which stretch back decades.