IT HAS been two years since Israel unleashed its brutal campaign of systematic destruction in Gaza that has laid waste houses, hospitals, schools and the entire community. Gaza has virtually become a graveyard for a people. One must look beyond the Hamas offensive of October 7, 2023 to understand the ongoing genocide. That date did not emerge from a vacuum. It was the culmination of decades of systematic dehumanisation, dispossession and siege. Two decades ago, international observers described Gaza as the world鈥檚 largest open-air prison that stripped its inhabitants of basic dignity. Their plight, in fact, stretches further back to 1948, when hundreds of thousands were driven from their houses during the Nakba. The statistics from Gaza today are horrifying. Until September, more than 66,000 people, including at least 19,424 children, have been killed. Thousands more remain missing beneath the rubble. The United Nations has confirmed that more than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable death. The International Rescue Committee reports that one in three young children in Gaza has gone at least 24 hours without food.
Education and health care have also been decimated. Every one of Gaza鈥檚 625,000 students has been out of school for two years. Nearly 92 per cent of schools have been damaged or destroyed. Universities lie in ruins. And, more than 18,000 students and 972 teachers have been killed. Out of 36 hospitals, only a few are partially functioning. More than 2,300 health and aid workers have been killed. Israel has also targeted journalists, killing 278 since October 2023, more than the dead in multiple major wars combined, while blocking international media access and intercepting humanitarian flotillas in blatant violation of the international law. Despite the enormity of the catastrophe, international action has been shamefully inadequate. Negotiations have faltered, largely because Israel routinely withdraws from or violates agreements. Proposed peace plans continue to sideline Palestinian voices. Some nations have called for greater inclusion of Palestinian voice in any settlement, but others have acquiesced to frameworks, such as Donald Trump鈥檚 recent 20-point peace plan, that risk being cosmetic solutions and legitimising continued violence. The genocide in Gaza is not only a moral outrage, it is also a test of the world鈥檚 commitment to the most basic principles of humanity and law. Silence and inaction make the world complicit.
It is, therefore, imperative that the international community should move beyond statements and take decisive steps such as meaningful sanctions, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, support for international legal accountability and unfettered humanitarian access. Every day of delay costs more Palestinian lives. The world must act now.
