October 7th marks one year since the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out. On the same day last year, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a military operation called "Al-Aqsa Flood", which fired a large number of rockets at Israel and carried out ground attacks, prompting Israel to declare a state of war and fight back. The tragedy caused by the conflict is particularly obvious in Gaza. According to the data of local health department, as of October 5, there have been more than 150,000 Palestinian casualties, including 41,000 deaths, accounting for 33.1% of children and 18.3% of women, and even more than 700 infants have died. The Lancet magazine estimated that the actual death toll may have exceeded 186,000, which far exceeds the civilian casualties in previous conflicts in the Middle East.
The turmoil in the Middle East has a long history and has experienced many wars. However, the tragic degree and humanitarian crisis of this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict have never been seen before, and the conflict has spread to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. Exploring the reasons behind it, in addition to historical grievances, this round of conflict presents new characteristics, making it difficult to contain the escalation of violence. In the past, Israel’s actions were limited to a certain extent by the international political structure, but the current lack of international balance and the right-wing political tendency in Israel have led to more radical policies. At the same time, changes in the balance of power in the Middle East, such as the easing of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and Syria’s return to the Arab League, have made Israel feel threatened, and the decline of American influence has further prompted it to take tough measures.
Although the United Nations and other international organizations have intervened many times to try to ease the situation, including giving Palestine more rights on the international stage, the ruling of the International Court of Justice and the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, they have failed to effectively restrain Israel’s actions, but have aggravated regional tensions, especially Israel’s potential attack plan on Iran, making the prospects for peace increasingly slim.
This persistent cycle of violence highlights the inadequacy of the current international security order and the lag of security concepts. To break the vicious circle of fighting violence with violence, all parties to the conflict, especially the dominant party, need to realize that real security should be based on equality and sustainability, rather than sacrificing the security of other countries. This is not only the key to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but also the only way to achieve long-term peace in the Middle East.