Saturday, 7th October 2023, opened a fresh sad chapter between Palestine and Israel. Palestine’s militant organization, Hamas, launched a brutal attack on Israel targeting both civilians and soldiers. Thousands of young men and women gathered at a vast field in southern Israel near the Gaza border to dance without a care.
Old and new friends jumped up and down, reveling in the swirl of the bass-heavy beats in an open-air Tribe of Nova music festival.
In a total ambush, the fighters belonging to the Palestine’s militant group, Hamas, appeared and massacred a total of 260 people which included civilians and overwhelmed security personnel at the event and it has been declared as Israel’s single deadliest attack on civilians in its history. Undetermined number of civilians were taken hostage. It did not end there.
The Hamas militias further raided and some Israel military outposts situated near the Gaza border further killing some civilians and solders while taking some soldiers and further civilians hostage into Gaza.
Following this incident, Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, immediately declared a state of war against Hamas. Retaliation followed and it has been close to ten days of catastrophic fights between Israel and Hamas.
Much of the fighting has been taken the Hamas’ doorstep in in Gaza, where the Israel forces are now conducting ground operations following a series of air strikes and number of death toll continues to rise in Gaza. The Israel Government cautioned civilians in Gaza to leave and migrate to South of Gaza and the Israel forces planned to smoke parts of Gaza where Hamas fighters are believed to have camps.
Neighboring countries such as Egypt sealed its borders refused to welcome refugees from Gaza, saying they are better off sending food and other aid to the civilian population than allowing them to flow into Egypt. However, the aid providers have met difficulties in going into Gaza to supply the aid due to the ongoing fierce fight.
Against this background, President Lazarus Chakwera of the Republic of Malawi, a traditional and long-time ally of Israel, has issued a statement declaring his support for Israel and civilians of both sides.
“Over the past few days, I have been monitoring the developing and escalating state of war between Israeli forces and Hamas, and I am deeply concerned about the welfare of civilians there, including the safety of over 300 Malawians living in Israel’, the President began his statement.
“As a long-time ally and friend of Israel, Malawi unequivocally condemns the recent terrorist attack against unarmed civilians and the ongoing captivity of civilians by Hamas”, Chakwera said while pledging his support to Israel particularly in its pursuit of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors.
In his calls for peace, President Chakwera urged for the cessation of violence by all parties and “the end of military action against known civilian targets in Gaza as well as the opening up of corridors for the supply of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians”.
The Malawi leader has further called on the international community to facilitate a credible path to lasting peace and security between Israel and Palestine, “a path that is more sustainable than the continuation of the existing painful blockade and statelessness that the Palestinian people have been living under for decades and which various armed groups in Palestine have used as a pretext for launching inhumane terrorist attacks against Israel”.
