The world focus seems to have shifted to the abduction of an Israeli soldier by the Palestinian fighters.
It has created something of an international crisis. The Israeli government has declared war on the Palestinians and sent troops to invade the Gaza Strip. Several Arab and non-Arab countries have stepped in to help resolve the crisis.
Taking the initiative, leaders of some Arab countries have made marathon tours, held closed-door meetings and put forward a host of proposals for the release of the soldier. Israel has warned the Hamas leaders that the sky would fall on them, meaning there would be drastic consequences if the captive were not released.
The concern of the international community over the issue and the Israeli determination to get the captive freed raises a number of questions. It’s not the first time that an Israeli soldier has been abducted by the Palestinians; why is such brouhaha made about it this time?
It could be that he is not an ordinary human being, but a creature made of hazardous nuclear materials. It seems the Israeli government fears that this nuclear captive would be decoded by the Palestinians, and that may be reason it is hell-bent on getting his release.
It is strange that the US-backed Israeli government has raised such a hue and cry over this abduction when the Israeli jails are packed to the gills with thousands of Palestinian youths and even children and elderly people.
They are being subjected to torture and other inhuman practices. Such conditions have been corroborated by several human rights organizations that appealed to the world to intervene immediately.
Israel has worsened the situation by abducting Palestinian ministers and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and threatening to take even tougher measures.
It seems that Israel is all set to commit further massacres of the Palestinian people and wipe Palestine off of the map... all in an effort to get its soldier back. What is more, Israel has threatened to abduct Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniye.
To nobody’s surprise, the US and some other countries have come out in support of the Israeli action and condemned the capture of the Israeli soldier. They are pressing the Palestinian government to take all steps for the release of the hostage. They are demanding the release of one Israeli soldier while turning a blind eye to innumerable massacres committed by the Jewish state.
If we look back at history, we can see several instances of Israeli soldiers being captured or senior officers in the Israeli Army being killed. Such events did not receive the kind of worldwide response like the current abduction has.
Despite several initiatives and suggestions to ease the crisis, Israel insists that the unconditional release of the captive is the only way to defuse the crisis.
Israel seems to have a hidden agenda and the whole hoopla is designed to cover some other objectives.
The implementation of these plans is possible only by raising the temperature by violence, which makes the situation open to all kinds of possibilities.
— Essa bin Mohammed Al-Zedjali is editor in chief of The Times of Oman.
