Quick summary:
• Over 45,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with 1.9 million forcibly displaced and living in makeshift shelters.
• At least seven infants have recently died from hypothermia as families face harsh winter conditions without adequate shelter.
• Human rights groups accuse Israel of using “safe zones” to facilitate forced displacement and hide genocidal attacks.
• Al-Mawasi, a designated safe zone, has been bombed multiple times by Israeli forces, killing dozens of civilians, including children.
• U.S. weapons and military aid continue to flow to Israel despite high civilian casualties, with recent arms transfers totaling $20 billion.
• The International Court of Justice is investigating whether Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide under international law.
• Paula Gil of Doctors Without Borders warned, “In Gaza, humanity is being destroyed and we cannot look away.”
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to escalate, with over 45,000 people killed since October 2023 as Israel’s military assault and blockade devastate the enclave. Human rights groups and medical professionals have condemned the lack of international action, warning that the situation amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatrician working in Gaza, described the dire conditions faced by civilians. “I’m watching children die in every possible way whether it’s violence, cold, hunger, disease—all directly as a consequence of a carefully orchestrated Israeli military campaign that has been enabled by the United States and other countries that are turning a deaf ear and blind eye,” Haj-Hassan told Al Jazeera.
Gaza is facing a catastrophic humanitarian emergency. At least 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced by the bombardment, with 92% of housing units destroyed or damaged. Families have been left to shelter in makeshift tents that offer little protection from cold temperatures, wind, and heavy rain. In recent days, at least seven infants have died from hypothermia.
“I struggle for words to describe how horrific the situation has become and how deaf the world has become to repeated cries from humanitarian workers, and mostly from Gazans themselves,” said Haj-Hassan. “They have documented on a daily basis their own genocide and have been killed for doing so.”
Paula Gil, president of the Spanish chapter of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), called Gaza “a death trap” and criticized the complicity of Israel’s allies in enabling the assault. “Families are surviving in makeshift shelters made of wood, plastic, and mattresses,” she told Al Jazeera. “Now the cold and the storms have arrived. How will they face the winter in these conditions?”
Despite being labeled as humanitarian safe zones, areas like al-Mawasi in southern Gaza have been repeatedly bombed by Israeli forces. On Thursday, at least 63 Palestinians were killed in attacks across Gaza, including 12 in al-Mawasi.
A report from the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, titled How to Hide a Genocide, details how Israel uses evacuation orders to force Palestinians into “safe zones,” only to target those areas with military strikes. “Over 90% of Gaza’s population… has been forcibly displaced from their homes and temporary shelters, the majority of them multiple times, to alleged safe zones,” the report stated.
According to Al-Haq, these zones lack essential resources like food, water, medical care, and sanitation facilities, making them anything but safe. “Contrary to their label, these zones are intentionally designed to ensure the destruction of all life sheltering there,” the report concluded.
One tragic example of this is the death of three-week-old Sila Mahmoud Al-Faseeh, who died of hypothermia in the al-Mawasi safe zone. She is one of at least eight people, including seven children, who have reportedly frozen to death in Gaza in recent weeks.
The al-Mawasi zone has been a repeated target of Israeli airstrikes. In the deadliest strike, at least 90 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed on July 13, 2024, when Israeli forces dropped eight 2,000-pound bombs on the encampment in an attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Mohammed Deif. Rescue workers arriving at the site were also attacked.
Despite the high civilian death toll, the U.S. government, Israel’s largest international funder, continues to provide military aid. After the July strike, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged the civilian casualties as “unacceptably high.” Yet, weeks later, the Biden administration approved approximately $20 billion worth of new weapons for Israel.
The ongoing assault on Gaza has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of committing ethnic cleansing. “As the world watches in silence, the far-right government of indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu is carrying out its intentional campaign of slaughter, mass destruction, forced starvation, and ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” CAIR stated. “History will reveal those who spoke out against this genocide, and those who did not.”
Paula Gil of MSF echoed this sentiment, condemning the role of Israel’s allies. “This does not happen in a vacuum,” she said. “The hypocrisy and complicity of Israel’s allies is allowing the social fabric of Gaza to be destroyed with impunity… There is no future. There is no hope. In Gaza, humanity is being destroyed and we cannot look away.”
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, is currently examining whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide. The court is expected to review evidence from human rights organizations, including Al-Haq’s findings on forced displacement and targeted strikes on civilian populations.
Al-Haq’s report highlights the legal implications of Israel’s actions, stating, “By applying humanitarian terms to its practice of forcibly transferring Palestinians, without any legal basis and in a manner that breaches international law, and labeling areas as safe zones despite being constantly attacked and lacking in all essentials for survival, Israel argues that it is acting in accordance with its legal obligations when in fact it is providing further evidence of its genocidal intent.”
As Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsens, human rights advocates continue to urge the global community to act. The international silence, they warn, is enabling what they describe as a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
“In Gaza, humanity is being destroyed and we cannot look away,” said Paula Gil.
Tell Congress to call for a ceasefire and stop funding Israel’s massacre of Palestinians here.
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