Israel has bombed the world’s third oldest Christian church on Thursday, which was sheltering approximately 400 refugees. A couple of days before, on Tuesday, Israel bombed a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of people were sheltering, killing over 500 people. Hundreds of homes already lie in ruins, including residential towers reduced to rubble and houses that collapsed on top of the inhabitants. At least 30 percent of all housing units inside the Gaza Strip have been either destroyed or damaged over the past two weeks.
More than half a million people have been internally displaced. Airstrikes have caused damage to public infrastructure, such as roads and medical facilities. Hospitals are not fully operational; medical supplies and fuel for power generators are in short supply, and several have sustained damage from bombings. Amid the relentless bombings, Israel is blocking food, fuel and water from entering Gaza, threatening famine and mass dehydration. The death toll in Gaza has reached 4,137, with 70 percent of these killed being women and children, according to figures cited by the United Nations.
The Israeli policy of using brute force against the defenseless Palestinians is not new; it has been implemented toward Gaza for many years. The death, destruction, pain and horror it has wrought have led to nothing but more horror.
Make no mistake, Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians, carried out with the support of the US, UK, French and German governments. Since October 7, Israel has launched a systematic campaign to ethnically cleanse northern Gaza and systematically demolish Gaza, while starving and dehydrating its population. The Netanyahu government is also targeting international humanitarian organizations that are trying to save lives.
Amnesty International stated in its initial assessment on Israeli war crimes in Gaza during the previous week that there is “Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza.” Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks, including indiscriminate attacks that ought to be looked into as war crimes because they resulted in a large number of civilian casualties.
It notes, “Israeli attacks violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects.”
Clearly, these are war crimes directed by senior Israeli officials, and there is no justification for them. Intentionally harming civilians, their property, or civilian infrastructure is never permitted, not even in the face of gruesome terror.
We are witnessing Israel commit genocide on live TV. Decades from now, people will wonder how the world let this happen in 21st century.
