From the Tunnels of Gaza to the Hallways of New York
Asharq Al-Awsat, London, September 22
Benjamin Netanyahu rubs his eyes. He cannot believe what he is seeing. He cannot believe what he is hearing. It is as if the world is bombarding him with missiles that cannot be intercepted—missiles striking at his bloody madness, his reckless ambitions, and his delusions rooted in the dark caves of history. The latest blows came from Canada, Australia, and Britain, which recognized the State of Palestine.
British recognition carries a particular sting; it helps alleviate the historical wound inflicted by the Balfour Declaration. Netanyahu is bewildered. The world cannot be silenced, and fighter jets cannot be dispatched to discipline it. A painful question will haunt his legacy—and Jewish history as well. Did his adventures and crimes hasten the awakening of the world’s conscience, prompting a rush to recognize the Palestinian state? Never before has powerful Israel endured such a torrent of diplomatic and political rebukes. The world could not endure the endless scenes from Gaza. Towers collapsing into dust. Houses annihilated with their families still inside. Tents set ablaze, with those seeking refuge trapped within them. Tiny bodies lowered into tiny graves. The deadly meals and treacherous bread. The torment of repeated displacements, each step shadowed by funerals.
Despair seems almost permanent, which is why the wounded seek solace in history. No force, however mighty, has ever succeeded in killing every person, erasing every home, or uprooting every tree. The dream of the oppressed burns hotter than the missiles of warplanes. It can hide in a child’s eyes, bide its time for a season or for generations, then erupt in defiance. It is not true that the conscience of the world is made of stone, nor that its slumber will last forever. Here stands the world, from New York to Geneva, defending the principles of the United Nations and drying the tears of Secretary-General António Guterres.
This story does not belong to Palestine alone; it belongs to the entire Middle East. History shows that the Palestinian question remains the region’s deepest, most open wound, even when other crises command attention. Israeli policy has long sought to deny this wound, to erase the Palestinian people’s right to claim their land—or even a fragment of it. The Netanyahu government continues to exploit the chaos of Yahya Sinwar’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to dismantle the Palestinian dream, erasing Gaza from the map while destabilizing and hollowing out the West Bank. Israel has used this “flood” as a pretext to reshape regional dynamics, boasting of toppling Bashar Assad, pushing Iran out of Syria, assassinating Hassan Nasrallah, and sending aircraft unchallenged across neighboring skies.
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Israeli arrogance has grown so brazen that it has even dared to raid the residences of Hamas leaders in Doha. Meanwhile, attention in the region turns this week to pivotal developments in New York. The Saudi- and French-sponsored two-state solution conference represents a watershed moment for the Palestinian cause. Saudi leadership has thrown its full weight behind the effort, accelerating recognition of a Palestinian state, particularly across Europe and among major powers. This unprecedented momentum stands as an international response to Israel’s attempt to bury the Palestinian question beneath the rubble of Gaza.
For nations that have traditionally backed Israel or looked away from its crimes, acknowledging that the only path to ending the Israeli Palestinian wars is the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is no simple matter. Yet the realization is dawning that the Middle East will never achieve lasting stability without such a state. Stability in this region affects not only its own peoples but also Europe, the United States, and the wider world, shaping global interests and the fragile balance of the international economy.
The two-state solution is the key. It alone can return Israel to itself—restore its borders, confine its aircraft to its own skies, and free it from the intoxication of regional arrogance. It can defuse the triggers of endless wars and remove the pretext for reckless adventures that seek to redraw the region’s map. Despite Washington’s current stance, the combined Arab, Islamic, and international pressure behind the two-state solution will ultimately persuade the US administration, even President Trump, that there is no other way to guarantee Palestinian rights and Israeli security.
This monumental diplomatic battle will demand time and patience, but it is the only path to lead the Middle East out of its dark tunnel. The two-state solution remains the sole window through which the region can escape its wars and horrors. What will unfold in New York is historic, but it is only the beginning. Between recognition of a Palestinian state and its realization on the ground lies a fierce struggle—inside Israel, within Palestinian ranks, and across other capitals, especially in the United States.
The world has sent an unmistakable message: Palestinian rights cannot be erased. The future of nations is not determined by airstrikes but by respect for rights and international law. What happens in New York is merely the first stone in the foundation. The Netanyahu government must be compelled to halt the fire, sit at the negotiating table, and discuss borders and guarantees. To achieve this, Washington must be convinced that the time has come to heal the Palestinian wound based on justice.
Israel has no choice but to abandon Netanyahu’s suicidal lexicon. Continued killing in Gaza only deepens Israel’s entrapment in its own tunnel. The Israeli army may have reduced Gaza to a wasteland, but the Palestinian dream rises again from the ashes. Palestinians, too, have no choice but to engage in the battle for a two-state solution according to the principles of international legitimacy. National unity and national ambitions are more important than the fate of individual political factions.
Ghassan Charbel (Translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
