Introduction
The rapidly evolving world is experiencing challenges in an uncertain environment. Industrialization and technological advancement have led to climate change and international conflicts among nations. Wars among nations are a rising challenge in the current century. Russia versus Ukraine and Israel versus Hamas are some of the major wars experienced recently. Governments have failed to manage the situation, which has led to harmful actions. Luke (1997), in the book Catalytic Leadership – Strategies for an Interconnected World, argues a different approach to solving the complex issues in the uncertain environment from the traditional change management method. The wickedness challenge has led to massacre decisions by authorities in governments, which Luke referred to as a complex issue resistant to resolution through traditional problem-solving methods.
One of the wicked actions in today’s world is the Israel-Hamas War of 2023. The war is evidence of deep-rooted conflicts and humanitarian crises that persist in the Middle East. The conflict has led to massive destruction in the Gaza Strip and loss of life for both groups. The conflict escalated to war on October 7, 2023, when an assault believed to be coordinated by Hamas was launched, leading to the loss of 1,200 lives, mainly Israeli civilian lives (Britannica, 2024). The Israel Defence Ministry, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responded with multiple air strikes on the Gaza region with ground invasions. The Hamas people are greatly affected as a marginalized community with the supply of necessities cut, such as food, water, medical services, and fuel access. The Hamas region has received air strikes with the claim of dealing with militants in Israel despite the millions of civilians in the Gaza Strip. The international community led by Qatar and Egypt have engaged Israel to pursue a peace agreement (Britannica, 2024). The war has increased tensions in the region with Hezbollah and attacks by Houthi forces. The war is more political and territorial conflicts despite the existence of militant groups in the Hamas community.
The wicked challenge in the Israel-Hamas War is the best choice, which is intertwined with the catalytic leadership principles argued by Luke. The issue has led to war tension in the Middle East region with the already existing Russia-Ukraine War, hence requiring urgent resolution (Britannica, 2024). The war is termed as genocide conducted by Israel, which requires the leaders to seize the Gaza attacks as war crimes and violations of human rights. Diplomacy can save Israel’s civil, political, and economic relations on the international stage (Sachs, 2024). This paper ventures on Luke’s catalytic leadership principles to offer strategies for resolving the complexities of the Israel-Hamas War. The paper acknowledges the wicked actions in the conflict to offer an actionable resolving process in the uncertain environment.
Israel-Hamas War Complexity
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is a perfect example of wicked problems. Rittel and Webber (1973) define the historical, political, and socio-cultural dynamics to understand the concept of wickedness among individuals. Cultural and political differences bind the Israel-Hamas War. Different nations, such as the United States and Canada, refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization verifying Israel’s wickedness in violating the human rights of the people in the Gaza region. The conflict is deeply rooted in political complexities despite the military confrontation. The clash between the two communities is engineered by ideological differences, territorial disputes sponsored by powerful nations, and competing narratives (Camillus, 2008). Using the traditional method of resolving conflicts becomes a challenge to the Israel-Hamas nature of wickedness portrayed.
Historical grievances of land disputes between the two communities push for war between them. Hamas claim they historically own the land from ancestral lines, making Israel urge to eliminate Hamas from the region. The Israel community feared the Hamas community might claim their land by referring to them as invaders. With the use of military and framed reasons to label Hamas as a terrorist organization, Israel is on a mission to eliminate the community from the young to the old. Snowden and Boone (2008) argue leaders make decisions based on beliefs and power identities that shape their behavior. Netanyahu’s decision to invade the Gaza Strip using air strikes and ground military is based on the belief that the Hamas community is a terrorist organization. The support from superpower nations like the United States to list Hamas as a terrorist group provides a ground for Israel to act inhumanely against the community. The complexity of the war is uncertain on which reasons pursued the wicked actions to kill even civilians using air strikes. Regional power struggles have also championed the wicked actions of Israel. The match of Netanyahu to Iran on the claim that they are helping a terrorist group is proof of the complexity of the wicked actions to push for a regional war. The conflict heavily affects the border nations as nations have to stay alert to the disturbed regional peace. Meadows (2008) claims that the surrounding crisis influences the principle of system thinking.
The complexity of the Israel-Hamas is evident from the lack of valid reason for the wicked actions to use heavy amour with massive destruction against a group of militants. Nations across the world have divided their response to the Israeli stand. Some support the actions, while others term it as war crimes. The rights of the Palestine community are violated as the whole community in Gaza is wiped out rather than the militants termed as terrorists. The complexity of the conflict involved other nations, such as Iran, making it difficult for Traditional military strategies to solve the issue. Camillus (2008) states that using military strategies does not solve a conflict regarding long-term stability.
Wickedness in the Israel-Hamas Conflict
Wickedness is a strategy governments, companies, and individuals apply to achieve specific goals (Camillus, 2008). Despite the initial differences between the Israel and the Palestine communities in Gaza, Israel moves to engage in more problematic actions of military strategies and interventions. The Israel-Hamas conflict reflects an example of a wicked problem as Israel fails to solve the problem by engaging the Hamas community to single out the militants but takes advantage of the use of heavy weapons on a mission of wiping them out. The ambiguity of the conflict keeps on changing as Israel is validating the actions against humanity. The shifting of the conflict goals makes it difficult to define and address them (Snowden & Boone, 2008). The interest of different stakeholders in the conflict defines the wickedness of the problem. International powers and neighboring countries influence the magnitude of the conflict. The Push to eliminate the believed terrorist group of the Hamas community indicates the wicked problems in the conflict.
Wicked problems are characterized by resistance to resolution (Camillus, 2008). The Israel-Hamas conflict has run over decades with no solution achieved, indicating the shifting of parties’ goals, creating a wicked problem. The parties’ resistance to agreeing on a diplomatic peace negotiation indicates the complexity of the issue over the decades, as beliefs entrench the situation, making it a wicked problem (Bentley & Toth, 2020). The conflict has been developing and evolving over the years. The use of military strategies, political development, and international community involvement explains the dynamic of wickedness behind the problem. Decision-makers on the conflict matter are limited in establishing parties’ goals and objectives on the challenges.
Suggestions in Problem Solving
Designing change for the Israel-Hamas conflict requires Luke’s catalytic leadership strategies. Luke highlights collective action and trust-building among stakeholders as key elements in solving a wicked problem. Solving the problem requires convincing Israel, Hamas, neighbouring countries, and international mediators. Involving these groups implies the complexity of the conflict within the region. The involved authorities are representatives of the communities involved in the conflict. Luke (1997) emphasizes that conflict requires their representatives to engage in diplomatic agreement to solve the issues. Bringing the stakeholders together through representatives is the best way to agree on a conflict resolution that benefits all involved parties. The diplomatic agreement ensures all community grievances are met and respective authorities are content with the agreed-upon terms.
Luke (1997) emphasizes building trust between leadership and the led citizens. A dialogue between involved stakeholders requires trust and openness. Israel leaders can spearhead the dialogue by ensuring they foster openness on the real reasons behind the mass destructions and killings in the Palestine community. Creating a safe space to articulate concerns requires trust where the motives pushing for the conflict are overlooked first. A structured dialogue of the Israel and Hamas communities facilitated by natural mediators is essential to help the communities find a common ground in their conflict.
Addressing the cause root is an effective solution to resolve the conflict between the Israel and Hamas communities. Luke (1997) focuses on building solutions for the cause of the conflict rather than acting on the symptoms of the conflict. The approach requires seeking the political, economic, and social factors contributing to the conflict. Opening the Gaza region to economic opportunities, access to basic services, and respecting their human rights can solve the grievances of the Hamas community. The root cause of Israel’s heavy ammunition toward civilians on the argument of terrorist presence requires a common force to scrutinize the presence of militants in the Hamas community and not invasion. Israel should stop the traditional method of military strategies in engaging in the conflict since it makes it worse by drawing the neighboring nations.
Critical Reflection
The Israel-Hamas conflict is rooted in the belief that the Hamas community is a terrorist group. The attack that escalated the use of air strikes by Israel on the Gaza Strip was not worth it. Despite suggestions for the communities to engage in a diplomatic dialogue on peace in the community, Israel has a role to play in ceasing fire on the Gaza Strip and the generalization of the entire community as a terrorist group. The actions of Israel are wicked problems, and they carry the blame for the mass destruction and life loss. The saints proclaimed that the actions of eliminating the terror group in Gaza through air strikes are worse than the actions of terrorist groups (Sachs, 2024). Despite the success of Luke Catalytic’s Leadership strategies to solve conflict problems, Israel is engaging in war crimes, hiding behind the claims of Gaza as a home for terrorists to wipe out Palestine in the country. Israel has to respect the human rights of the Gaza people and conduct a joint military mission to eliminate the claimed militants and not use air strikes on residential areas full of civilians. Israel has to direct their resources to rebuild Gaza economically, politically, and Socially, as it is the cause of their fall. The dialogue communications between the two communities should be based on restoring the Gaza community to its original state, not only ending the conflict. These actions can resolve the reputation of Israel nation from heinous terrorist attacks in the same manner that the United States trapped in engaging Afghanistan and Iraq on claims of the presence of terrorist groups.
Conclusion
Communities engage in genocide actions on claims to resolve conflicts, particularly war conflicts. The Israel-Hamas conflict is a perfect example of a wicked problem where Israel has used heavy ammunition to escalate the conflict situation to a war zone with mass destruction and civilian killings. Israel can resolve the conflict by ceasing the attacks on the Palestine community, with the international community stopping branding the Hamas community as a terrorist group. Israel has to engage the Gaza community in rebuilding it to restore its reputation or get trapped in terrorist attacks like America in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
References
Bentley, J., & Toth, M. (2020). Exploring wicked problems: What they are and why they are important. Bloomington, IN: Archway. ISBN-13. 9781480889439
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, April 6). Israel-Hamas War. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Israel-Hamas-War
Camillus, J. C. (2008, May). Strategy as a Wicked Problem. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2008/05/strategy-as-a-wicked-problem
Luke, J. S. (1998). Catalytic Leadership: Strategies for an Interconnected World. Jossey-Bass Publishers. ISBN-13. 978-0787909178.
Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-84407-726-7
Rittel & Webber (1973), in an article named Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning in Policy Sciences vol 4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/bf01405730
Sachs, J. D. (2024). Israel’s Chance to Turn Carnage into Peace. Hate & Extremism, Inequality, War, Wicked Problems. Retrieved from https://www.wicked7.org/israels-chance-to-turn-carnage-into-peace/
Snowden, D. J., & Boone, M. E. (2007). A leader’s framework for decision making. Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 68. https://www.systemswisdom.com/sites/default/files/Snowdon-and-Boone-A-Leader’s-Framework-for-Decision-Making_0.pdf
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