or five months, brutal killing of innocent civilians in Gaza has been going on.The unprecedented disregard of human rights violations has been ignored by some of the most influential nations.

There has been a strong reaction by civilians around the world against the atrocities committed by Israeli forces. However, unconditional support extended by the United States and some other Western nations to the Israeli authorities, including supply of arms and ammunitions, has allowed the Zionist state to continue its genocidal plans in the region.

A few days ago, President Biden, condemned Israel’s plans for a land operation in the southern city of Rafah and called it a red line. On March 12, US Senator Chuck Schumer criticised Israel in strongest terms used by anAmerican politician since the ongoing war in Gazabegan onOctober 7. He also called for a leadership shake-up in the country.He urged Israelto hold fresh elections and choose a new leader capable of steering the country on a sanepath. Schumer blamed the incumbent Israeli prime minister for the high number of civilian casualties and accused him being “too willing to tolerate civilian toll in Gaza.”

There have been other calls from within the United States for stopping the war in Gaza. Recently eight US senators addressed President Biden in a letter urging him to make continued aid to Israel contingent upon adherence to human rights. The US provides around $3.8 billion aid to the country every year. The remarks made by Senator Schumer have resonated around the world in part for the reason that he is a Jewish American.TheIsraeli lobby enjoyshuge influence in the US power corridors. Such criticism of Israel is therefore rare. The remarks by Senator Schumer have been criticized by some members of the Israeli cabinet.The US State Department has also been cautious with regard to comments calling those Senator Schumer’s personal opinion.

The US will soon be heading towards elections.Aclosecontest is expected between President Joe Biden and the Republican candidate, former president Donald Trump. This is a tough call for both candidates.The situation demands that they take a clear line on important issues around the world. While some Democratic Party leaders have been asking Israel to adhere to the preservation of human rights, the Republicans have generally sided with Israel. Sanity seems to have been compromised by the political expediency.

Sane voices in the US should convince Israel that there is a growing realisationof the human rights violations being committed against Palestinians and increasing sympathy for them.

There is an increasing realisation in the US of the crimes Israel is perpetrating in Gaza. While many voices around the world have supported a two-states solution, Israeli leadership is opposing it. Instead, they are trying to forge ahead for a more authoritarian occupation of Palestinian territories especially Gaza.With sane voices coming from the US, Israel should realize that there is growing sympathy for the Palestinians and growing frustration against Israeli actions.Attempts to stop Israeli violence have been unsuccessful so for chiefly because the US has sided withit. The only way to stop the insane violence seems to be for support for peace within the US.

The ongoing war in Gaza is a war against humanity, regardless of caste, creed, colour, religion and nationality. Voices like Senator Schumer’s must be heard, registered and supported for the sake of humanity. Now that the world is more connected via the media than ever before, it is incumbent on people around the world to support the victims of tyranny in all parts of the world. The victims may be hundreds of miles away, yet the deleterious effects of such violence reach every nook and corner.

Today, the whole world is affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well a the war in Gaza.

There have been many technological advancements in warfare and the media exchanges are a lot faster.

An unjust war anywhere in the world can thus rouse people around the world to oppose it. Yet, people in many regions including Occupied Kashmirhave been enduring oppression for decades. The fact that one of the oldest issues on the UN agenda has remained unresolved has not helped the cause of peace through diplomacy. This tends to diminish the hope for avertingsituations like Gaza. Had the world paid more attention to the atrocities in Kashmir being perpetrated by India and forced compliance with Security Council resolutions the same would have served as a crucialprecedent for avoiding human rights violations now being faced in Gaza.

It is never too late, however. More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in the five months of Gaza conflict. The efforts to halt Israeli aggression must not stop.

As of March 21, intense diplomatic activity was taking place to secure a ceasefire. “Negotiations underway to secure a ceasefire are getting closer to a deal.We have worked very hard with Qatar, with Egypt and with Israel to put a strong proposal on the table. We did that; Hamas wouldn’t accept it. They came back with other requests, other demands. The negotiators are working on that right now,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

Israel’s has rejected Hamas’s latest counterproposal calling it “negative in general,“ according to Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan.The counterproposal delivered last week included the release of Israeli hostages to be accompanied by the release of 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Blinken, on a trip to the Middle East, was meeting with Arab leaders and was to head to Israel on Friday.

In the backdrop of these developments, Senator Schumer’s condemnation of Israeli authorities indicated a growing impatience within the US against the Israeli transgressions.

The writer is communication strategist at the Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad. She can be reached at reema.asim81@gmail.com