Israel’s War Radicalizing Palestinians, Qatar PM Warns

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that an entire generation in the Middle East is at risk of becoming radicalized because of the war in Gaza, Andrew Mills reported for Reuters.

Sheikh Mohammed was speaking at the Doha Forum conference in Qatar when issued the warning, which is directed not only at Israel but also the US, UK, and the European Union (EU). I Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Qatar

Sheikh Mohammed was speaking at the Doha Forum conference in Qatar when issued the warning, which is directed not only at Israel but also the US, UK, and the European Union (EU).

The Qatar leader’s statement hews closely to the opinion of Robert A. Pape, who wrote for Foreign Affairs that collective punishment won’t defeat Hamas and that the deaths of nearly 10,000 Palestinian civilians through Israeli air strikes, tank fire, and artillery barrages would push more Palestinians to support Hamas, which has battled

Israel for more than seven weeks, with more than 400 Israeli soldiers dying.    

“Whatever the ultimate goal, Israel’s collective devastation of Gaza raises deep moral problems. But even judged purely in strategic terms, Israel’s approach is doomed to failure—and indeed, it is already failing. Mass civilian punishment has not convinced Gaza’s residents to stop supporting Hamas. To the contrary, it has only heightened resentment among Palestinians. Nor has the campaign succeeded in dismantling the group ostensibly being targeted. Fifty-plus days of war show that while Israel can demolish Gaza, it cannot destroy Hamas. In fact, the group may be stronger now than it was before,” Pape concluded. 

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