On October 7th, 2023 Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked southern Israel, killing thousands and taking more than 250 people hostage. That day, Israel declared war on Hamas.
Since then Gaza has been bombarded by Israeli air and armillary strikes. It’s been reported that more than 26 thousand people have died, many of them children.
The roots of the conflict predate the creation of the Israeli state 75 years ago and the founding of Hamas in 1987, but recent violence is said to have begun following Hamas expelling the Palestinian Authority from Gaza and taking control of the enclave. Elections have not been held since then and Hamas, unlike the Palestinian Authority, doesn’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
Most recently, officials from Egypt, Israel, the United States and Qatar, serving as a Hamas intermediary, have been meeting in Paris to lay the groundwork for a possible deal to recover Israeli hostages.
Last week, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel and senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Jon Allen spoke to the Cobourg Rotary club.
We asked Allen to summarize the situation.
Allen said that the horrific attack last October by Hamas and equally horrific response from Israel have polarized people to extremes.
Ultimately Allen feels that people must come together and make peace or the conflict will never end. It is toward peace that he is working with organizations like Rosana Health Diplomacy.
Allen told us more about the work being done by Rosana.
Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from both sides of the conflict are trained together in the hope that their shared experience will be something that can bridge differences and break down prejudices.
Rosana also facilitates primary healthcare in remote Palestinian areas. They support Palestinian women gynecologists, general practitioners and dentists with Israeli technology and equipment on the ground.
We asked Jon what can the average Canadian do to make a difference.
To learn more about Rozana Health Diplomacy, visit their website at Home – Rozana International (projectrozana.org)
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
