In my recent commentaries on the Israel-Hamas conflict I asked the question: How many Gazans must die to assuage Israel’s thirst for vengeance?

In over two months of fighting in the beleaguered strip of land not bigger than St James, this question, to my mind, has become more urgent. It is becoming clearer by the day that Israel does not seem to care what the answer to this question is. It is obvious that in the midst of its unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, with its colossal destruction of life and property, any number of lives lost is simply fair game.

What other conclusion could one draw when in over 64 days of fighting Israeli forces have killed close to 18,000 people, with over 7,000 of these being children. Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the territory, I predicted that if he did, what would follow would be a humanitarian disaster of tragic proportions. That Israel, with its overwhelming military superiority, would win the battle against Hamas and subdue the Gazan population but would lose the public relations battle. Few would gainsay that these predictions have, unfortunately, been borne out.

Most well-thinking people would agree that Israel had to answer Hamas’s attack on its territory, given the gruesome loss of lives that occurred. But I also believe that most well-thinking people would agree that in its ongoing response Israel has crossed a threshold in the way it has carried out this response. The indiscriminate destruction of lives and property cannot be excused, and the world will become increasingly indignant with Israel as the carnage continues.

Today Gaza is an apocalyptic landscape of bombed-out buildings — schools, hospitals, civic and commercial centres — and ruined cities along with their attendant physical infrastructure to sustain life. The territory now resembles a scene in a horror movie in which survivors of a nuclear holocaust are trying to pick up the remaining pieces of their lives.

The United Nations World Food Programme reported that people are wandering the streets in chaos, not knowing where to go, being hungry and thirsty, with hardly any solution in sight for their daily plight. The sick and wounded cannot get the medical care they deserve and many are dying for lack of attention to their medical plight.

The truth is that the people have nowhere to go on that small sliver of land. They were told to evacuate the north to escape the initial war. Many who could, did so. Those remaining were left to face certain death. When Israel felt satisfied that its objectives in the north had been achieved, it agreed gratuitously for a pause in the fighting to allow hostages to be freed. It then urged people to flee to the south. Some who escaped death in the north and thought that they would be safe in the southern part of the strip, unfortunately lost their lives when Israel resumed its offensive and targeted that area. Within a day of its resumption almost 800 people were killed, including approximately 400 children.

Khan Younis, the biggest city in southern Gaza, has come under unrelenting bombardment, with residents being caught in the crossfire between the two sides. They were told to move, but to where? The Mediterranean Sea?

Not readily seen is the horrible emotional strain that this conflict is having on the residents, especially the children. I saw a picture of a little boy whose friend was killed. He was sobbing over him, resisting the rescue workers who were trying to pull him away. As he cried, he shouted words of anguish. The reporter said he was saying that he wanted to be buried with his friend. Let us understand that many of these children are now orphans, without a home and without a future. They are hapless victims of a war which they cannot understand and which they certainly did not start.

In the midst of all this carnage and unmitigated human disaster Israel has vowed to step up its mission in Gaza. The world seems helpless to stop it. The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres seems to have reached the zenith of his frustration in trying to bring about an end to the conflict. Last Friday the United Nations Security Council presented a resolution for a ceasefire. The US, using its veto power, vetoed it. America knows well the implications of its vote — more lives lost, especially children’s, and the continued destruction of the way of life of the Palestinian people.

America’s reaction to Israel’s ferocity belies the power and influence it has or should have as its staunchest Western supporter. It has bankrolled some of the very weapons that Israel is using on the Gazans yet it behaves like a paper tiger issuing weak and ineffective appeals, such as that from White House Spokesman John Kirby that Israel must do more to reduce civilian casualties. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is also unconvincing, even when he seems to acknowledge that Israel is not doing enough to protect civilian lives, a situation which he describes as a gap between intent and the reality on the ground.

It is time that America becomes more stridently forthright in condemning the atrocities being meted out on in Gaza. Hiding behind diplomatic language when a clear case of genocide can be made against Israel before its very eyes cannot be the preferred option at this time. In the heat of war and the clearly vengeful spirit with which Israel is conducting the war, it is hardly worth it to appeal to the better angels in Israeli leadership today. Yet it cannot escape attention that the leadership has abandoned any sense of the rich prophetic traditions regarding social justice enshrined in its scripture. The voice of its eighth century prophets ring out loudly here in condemnation of its treatment of the Palestinians.

In the meantime, countries that have not broken relations with Israel over this conflict, including Jamaica, must have a “come-to-Jesus” moment with their own silence regarding Israel’s seeming genocidal intent in Gaza. The blood of the innocent cries out to them. Jamaica has a close relationship with the Netanyahu Government and has always conducted a principled relationship with that country. We seem to benefit from help given by that Government in terms of our national security interests and other areas of cooperation. I say “seem” because the contours of that help have not been spelt out by the Andrew Holness Administration.

Nevertheless, there seems to be some reluctance to criticise Israel’s response as fulsomely as it has done the Hamas horrific attack. Some may argue that with the help we are getting we should tread carefully. But I cannot see that any Government which subscribes to international human rights can sit back and witness the immoral and indiscriminate slaughter of the innocent in Gaza and say nothing to those who are perpetrating this wrong. In this sense silence becomes cowardice.

This column calls upon the Holness Administration to issue an open and declarative statement on where it stands on this conflict. If a good friend cannot tell another good friend that he is wrong, then that is perhaps a friend not worth having. Not even a good friendship should allow one to throw important principles through the window. The country has a right to know how its goodwill is being spent in this matter.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; The Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.