THIS week marked a year since 1200 people were killed by Hamas, and 251 taken hostage in the attacks against Israel. Since the October 7, 2023 attack, the state of Israel has responded by killing an estimated 42,000 people in retaliation.

There is no doubt that the actions of Hamas must be condemned for their brutality, but the behaviour from the state of Israel over the last 12 months should send alarm bells ringing the world over.

On Thursday, a United Nations commission accused Israel of carrying out a “concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system”. This follows countless examples of Israeli forces blocking aid into Gaza, bombing schools and refugee camps, and cutting off the water supply for millions of people.

There have been mass graves uncovered outside bombed hospitals, with some of the bodies found stripped naked and mutilated, with their hands tied behind their backs.

READ MORE: I was one of only five reporters at this Palestinian press event. Why?

It is not just bombs killing innocent people, but poor sanitation and malnutrition also. Since 2008, Israel has refused entry to any UN agency individuals. Despite these attempts to shield themselves from any accountability, evidence of war crimes committed by Israel is there for all to see.

One of the biggest problems the West has is our undeniable double standards. Any time a politician talks about Israel, their sentence usually begins with “We support Israel’s right to defend itself” – a sentiment rarely afforded to other Middle Eastern countries.

We have watched the Iranian regime commit further violence in an attempt to exploit the suffering and turmoil being experienced by people in Palestine in order to bring about as much instability as possible. It was (rightly) condemned as disproportionate when Iran fired 100 missiles at Israel in retaliation for an attack on an embassy, and yet, there has been little to no condemnation for Israel’s year-long, indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza.

MPs line up every year to get their picture taken for Holocaust Memorial Day and make contributions as a reminder to themselves, and the rest of us, that such barbaric and inhumane treatment of human beings, as witnessed in the Second World War, must never be repeated.

A Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza StripA Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip (Image: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes in Palestine, these very same politicians are doing everything they can to avoid labelling the events in Palestine for what they are – genocide.

We are witnessing a spreading of escalation with the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Lebanese-based Hezbollah are thought to be the largest paramilitary in the world, and have fired rockets and missiles into Israel since the October 7 attacks in what they claim is solidarity with Palestine. Analysis of conflict data showed that Israeli strikes on Lebanon outnumbered Hezbollah’s by five to one.

That is 30 deaths in Lebanon for every one fatality in Israel. However, these figures only cover the period up to September 20, which means they don’t account for the recent escalation.

I would not be so arrogant as to believe that I could cover all the woes and nuances of the Middle East in one article, but one thing I can confidently say is that there is not going to be a military solution to the conflict in the region.

There must be a political and diplomatic solution, so what is required now is the same as what has been required for years: we need de-escalation, and for the causes of conflict in the region to be reviewed. The biggest continuing cause of conflict is the siege of Gaza; hence the desperate need for a ceasefire.