Today's event in Israel will likely lead to a war that will engulf the middle east, it did not have to be this way.

This is the aftermath of a suicide drone attack in Be'er Sheva earlier today (the attack happened a few hours ago, pictures and videos are making it on to social media now). The Israeli air force says it recorded over 700 rockets coming from Gaza today. It is currently the worst violence Israel has seen since May 2021. The Israeli government is now promising a "heavy price" for the people of Gaza and a large portion of them are likely to be displaced, injured or killed as a result of this conflict. <br><br>It did not have to be this way.<br><br>Let me explain what happened to cause this current war. <br><br>Back in December 2019, this conflict was preventable, I don't just mean the current war, but the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict could have been prevented. The Israeli government, in a deal with Israel's then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have resolved the conflict by giving the Palestinians a state, with no settlements, no settlers, and East Jerusalem as the capital. SO the Palestinian state would be fully contiguous and would have access to the Jordan River. The Gaza strip would not be blockaded by Israel anymore and would have direct contact with Egypt. The deal was approved by both Abbas (the Palestinian president) and Netanyahu. In fact all sides (Netanyahu, Abbas, and the US government under Donald Trump) said at the time that the deal, called "Peace to Prosperity", was a "win-win". But what happened? The Israeli public rejected it. And with that, all hopes of peace were lost.<br><br>The Palestinian people are close to being annexed and living as second class citizens under what will be Israeli control for the rest of their lives. They live in complete poverty and squalor. The other alternative for them is war after war, with the Palestinians constantly risking being killed. Both options are completely unacceptable. <br><br>The Israeli public should have accepted the deal. It would have been a historic and great achievement for peace. Now we are back to the decades long cycle of war and violence. <br><br>The conflict will never be resolved without a two state solution. And if that seems impossible to achieve and the Israeli public will never agree to a two state solution, then Israel will have to give the Palestinians citizenship. It is the only way the conflict can be resolved. But the Israeli government refuses to do this "because Israel will cease to be a Jewish state" and instead are considering annexing the Palestinians and making them second class citizens. Is that what the Israeli government really wants? Does the Israeli government really want to make 2.5 million people into second class citizens? The situation is tense, and it is not improving. <br><br>The conflict is never going to go away if nothing changes. It will continue to cause immense suffering to both sides for generations to come. I hope the Israeli government and people will come to their senses and make some actual changes to achieve peace.