Yet again we wake up one Sunday morning to hear reports of the start of another war. This time, it is the extraordinary escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group fighting for Palestinian independence.
Israeli and Palestine politics is immensely complicated. Indeed, the whole country is. Within a few hundred yards of each other, the most sacred sites of three religions, all worshiping the same god, lie. The tomb of King David, in the heart of Jerusalem, lies adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al Aqsa Mosque.
Modern Israel, as it is today, came as a result of a number of agreements and wars after the Second World War. But it is still not resolved, with Palestinian territories split between the West Bank (that includes half of Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, a piece of land around 30 miles long and under 10 wide that is home to nearly two and half million people. Some Israelis have settled in the West Bank, and most countries – including the UK – favour the two-state solution.
I’ve been there a few times, including into the West Bank. As a minister I visited the Palestinian finance minister in Ramallah. There is no doubt that Palestine has issues with Israel. But equally so, when I was last there, around 800 rockets were indiscriminately fired into Israel from Gaza.
But the latest atrocity by Hamas has stunned everyone. Raiding a festival in Israel, killing and wounding hundreds (if not thousands) of young revellers and taking others hostage was an extraordinary act of terrorism. The response by Israel has resulted in yet more deaths in Gaza.
This may blow up into a full blown war, but my guess is that it will quieten down to an uncomfortable stalemate quickly. After all, Hamas has limited resources, but they are hidden amongst civilians, who no-one wants to hurt.
Will it affect us here in the UK? Not in the same way that the war in Ukraine has pushed up our energy bills. But we have already seen antisemitic attacks on a kosher restaurant in London. And, of course, instability anywhere in the world – especially at the other end of the Mediterranean, already suffering crisis in Syria – is never a good thing.
There are one or two politicians here who have yet to condemn the action by Hamas. But the vast majority, me included, have already done so.