In 2024, current wars are seen to intensify

By all indications, the coming year will see the continuation and even intensification of devastating wars in the world.

In Ukraine, the invading Russian military has failed to crush that country’s valiantly defending forces. And in Palestine’s Gaza Strip, the invading Israeli military vows to wipe out the fighters of the militant Hamas movement.

Both wars have caused incalculable damage and suffering not only on civilian populations, but even on nations across the world.

Russia’s ground invasion on Feb. 24, 2022 escalated its war in Ukraine that began in 2014. But after ten years, neither side can confidently claim dominance on the ground. Ukraine’s persevering defense has relied largely on the sustained military aid from the United States and its European allies.

Recently, Ukraine’s government geared up for a protracted war with Russia through a proposed legislation in parliament that seeks to lower the age of citizens who could be drafted into military service – from 27 to 25. The New York Times says that military officials have talked about a large-scale mobilization of up to 500,000 soldiers.   

In the case of Israel, the military’s chief of staff, Herzi Hallevi, indicated that their war with Hamas will probably go on for many months. The Israeli Defense Forces, he vowed, would reach the Hamas leadership “whether it takes a week or whether it takes months.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defined his government’s goal in more precise terms. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed article on Dec. 26, he declared:

“Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized and Palestinian society must be deradicalized. These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza.” Demilitarization, he said, “will require establishing a temporary security zone” on the perimeter of the Gaza Strip. “For the foreseeable future, Israel will have to retain overriding security responsibility over Gaza.”

Towards those objectives, Netanyahu emphasized, “We are intensifying the fighting in the coming days.” Following his statement, two southern Gaza towns, Khan Younis and Rafah – to which the Israeli military earlier had told displaced