The Israeli-Hamas conflict has dragged on for more than a month, and caused a significant loss of life, with the number of casualties continuing to increase. 

While the conflict has deep historic roots and a complex background, the United States’ Middle East policy is also to blame. 

The relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018 signaled Washington’s adoption of a new foreign policy that is more biased toward Israel, and the way Washington handled the Israeli-Hamas conflict has fueled the conflict.

Washington has repeatedly voiced its support for Israel and refused to assert its influence to stop the war despite the mounting death toll in Gaza, resisting pressure from the Arab world and the international community.

While this new conflict was triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, the root cause of the perpetuating conflict lies in the unsolved Palestinian question.

United Nations Resolution 181, which was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. However, this resolution has never been implemented. The Palestinians have been living on their own land without belonging to a sovereign state. This historical injustice to Palestinians has dragged on for over half a century. Worse, Israel has continued to appropriate Palestinian land and build settlements, according to Amnesty International. It has implemented long-term blockades and violently suppressed Palestinians, causing conflicts to break out from time to time, and the grievances between the two sides have deepened.

The US has failed to deal with the Palestinian question either seriously or fairly, and it has favored and sheltered Israel. After Hamas launched the attack on Oct 7, the US embassy in Jerusalem took the lead to condemn Hamas’ assault, saying that the US was in contact with Israeli officials and fully supported Israel’s “right to self-defense”. 

When US President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct 18, he actually expressed support for Israel’s counterattack, rather than asserting his influence on Netanyahu to deescalate the conflict. Emboldened by Washington’s staunch support, Israel has become increasingly tougher in the new Israel-Hamas conflict and launched ruthless military strikes on targets in Gaza. Israel’s massive airstrikes, including those targeting refugee camps and hospitals, have caused heavy casualties, most of whom are Palestinian children and women.

Instead of leveraging its influence on Israel to broker a permanent solution, which must be a two-state solution, to the Palestinian question and bring an end to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian feud, Washington has maintain a consistently pro-Israel stance mainly for the sake of the US’ own geopolitical interests in the Middle East.

That Washington has connived at Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories and efforts to expand Israeli settlements in Palestinian land, perpetuating the historical injustice to Palestinians, does not tally with the “rules-based international order” that Washington has vigorously promoted.

The way Washington responded to the Israel-Hamas conflict, particularly its indifference to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, has not only disappointed the Islamic world but also the international community, which does not bode well for its international stature and soft power.

Ivan Chu is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies. Edward Wong is a researcher at the Hong Kong Sustainable Development Research Institute.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.