Enough suffering, time now for Mideast peace

The history books will remember 2014 as a devastating year for people of the Middle East.

The Syrian civil war, now considered the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War, counts three million refugees and seven million persons displaced. The Islamic State emerged from Syria to take the Iraqi city of Mosul and, in August, the Nineveh Plain, forcing more than 120,000 people — mainly minority Yazidis and Christians — to run for their lives.

We also witnessed a brutal confrontation between Hamas and Israel that left 110,000 Palestinians in Gaza homeless and 2,300 dead — including 513 children. About 8,000 Israelis had to evacuate their homes, while 66 soldiers and five civilians lost their lives.

The region is in crisis mainly because unresolved conflicts are tearing it apart. This has created a political vacuum, where the most violent groups have become a major threat to the whole region and, eventually, the world.