IDF has also blocked Rafah crossing, the only land route for humanitarian assistance. Of course, there is no possibility of such aid through air or sea. Due to perpetual air, sea, and land routes blockade, imposed by Israel for last many decades, Gaza is known as the largest open jail in the world. To augment their unchecked brutalities and war crimes, with aim of achieving complete ethnic cleansing of Gazan Palestinians, Israel is creating man-made famine by denying all food supplies, even potable water, which are already scarce in the area. Such inhuman and savage situation has led to great human catastrophe and consequential starvation will result into large scale deaths. According to the UN estimates, more than fifty percent Gazans who have been compelled to concentrate in south Gaza, i.e. over 1.2 million people, are suffering from acute starvation and famine like conditions. Since no food is available, human being are forced to eat animal fodder and tree leaves that are also finished. There is no doubt that IDF is using ‘starvation as a weapon of war’ against besieged Gazan Muslims with the objective of ethnic cleansing and forcing them to die or vacate their homeland and pave way for further colonization and new settlements.
Despite warnings issued by various UN entities and international humanitarian organizations about the man-made and extremely harsh famine like conditions, and its precarious and dangerous consequence, Israel / IDF is ruthlessly continuing its military operations, killing around one hundred Palestinians each day unabatedly. Israel has also blatantly refused to pay any attention to the verdict passed by Internation Court of Justice and its direction of ‘avoiding genocide’ in Gaza. Such defiance, rather outright violent behaviour and aggression cannot take place without open support and encouragement of few big powers of the world. It is no secret that the U.S. is the real lifeline of Israel. It supports and sponsors Israel diplomatically, financially, and militarily. In this sinister and devilish project, many other European countries, especially, the UK, France and Germany are fully complacent to Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.S. has consecutively vetoed thrice any reasonable proposal for unconditional cease-fire in Gaza and demand for providing safe corridor for humanitarian aid for besieged Gazan Palestinians. Having committed such diplomatic crime, it moved a resolution to demanded cease-fire to be link with prior release of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas during 7 October 2023 security operation to break the decade old blockade of Gaza. Since, this resolution was highly biased, demanding one side concessions for Israeli without offering any tangible relief for Gaza, China and Russia vetoed it. Inability of the United National Security Council (UNSC) to provide fair and just solution for many global armed conflicts is already well known. However, recent inaction and total paralysis of the UNSC in seeking consensus for unconditional and immediate cease-fire in Gaza and forcing Israel to provided safe passage for distribution of much needed humanitarian assistance, has fully exposed nonviability of the Council and the UN, as protector of international peace and security, in general.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has repeatedly highlighted the precariousness of situation in Gaza. His demanded for immediate cease-fire, and opening of blocked allowing urgently needed humanitarian aid, has been defied by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. After visiting Rafah on 23 March 2024, he has made a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. He also called on Israel to give total, unfettered access, to humanitarian goods throughout Gaza. A UN-backed food security assessment said 1.1 million people in Gaza were struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. Mr. Guterres said that he had come to Rafah to spotlight the pain of Palestinians in Gaza. While talking to journalists at the Rafah border crossing, he said that it is time for a ceasefire and for an iron-clad commitment by Israel to allow unhindered aid deliveries into the besieged enclave. His earlier request for immediate Ramadan ceasefire for Gaza was also neglected by Israel. He had also warned that the world was entering into an “age of chaos” as the UNSC remained sharply divided over Israel’s war on Gaza, primarily due to brazen veto used by the U.S.
It is worth noting that Israel and other states which support and abet its killing machine have already ignored outcry of various UN organizations that are working for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Earlier, Israel has vehemently and shamelessly refused all similar requests made by chiefs of UNRWA, WFP, and OCHA. On 18 March 2024, World Food Program report warned that “Famine is imminent in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse”. Two weeks prior, on 27 February, the WFP Deputy Executive Director, Carl Skau, while addressing the UNSC on ‘High-Level Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’ also expressed his worries about humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He warned of a real prospect of famine by May 2024, with over 500,000 people at risk, if the threat was allowed to materialize. On 5 December 2023, the WFP had already issued a warning of overwhelmingly catastrophic hunger crisis faced by civilian population in Gaza. Human Right Watch (HRW) has clearly said that “Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.” It also said that clear evidence indicates that civilians are being deliberately denied access to food and water. Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Energy Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel. IDF has completely stopped all types of aid to enter Gaza. The situation is so dangerous that even the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who, generally, supports Israel, has described the lack of aid entering Gaza as a man-made disaster. He acknowledged that “Starvation is being used as a weapon of war in Gaza.” As early as 25 October 2023, Oxfam had said that Israel was using starvation as a “weapon of war” after it cut off supplies of food, water, electricity, and fuel to the besieged Gaza Strip.
It is ironical that having supported, rather practically facilitated, Israeli war of annihilation against the Palestinians for continuous six month, in which more than thirty-two thousand Gazam Palestinian have been killed in a cold-blooded manner, now the U.S. President Joe Biden is talking of a “red line.” However, Israel still threatens for full-scale invasion of Rafah, where more than 2.0 million Gazan have been trapped like animals in small cage. The U.S Vice President, Kamala Haris, has also started speaking of the dangers of Israeli offensive against besieged Gazan Palestinians.
Most condemnable is the response of Muslims rulers, in particular, and, of course, Muslims at large, in general. According to Islam, all Muslims are brethren like oner human body. If one part of the body is in pain or is injured, the agony and anguish of such suffering must be felt by the whole body. Unfortunately, we, the Muslims, have forgotten all such teachings of our Holy Prophet and Allah Almighty. Or, we have become so callous and insensitive that pain, anguish, and grief of other Muslim brethren do not move us. In fact, we are too hypocritical people who are absorbed in their lives of deep slumber and insensitivity and selfishness. We do mot realize that Judeo-Christianity and Zionism has launched a protracted neo-Crusades against Muslims. ‘Global war on Terror’ was used a casus belli to wage a war and justify the same against Muslim countries / nations. The basic aim was to capture and strengthen Christendom’s control over natural resources of those Muslim countries which had some seeds of resistance, or their rulers were showing signs of non or less compliance. Of course, all such military campaigns against Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya, and resultant occupation are part of greater global control and geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic hegemony. What we are witnessing in Gaza today is a continuation of colonization and occupation of complete Palestine and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Muslims, who have lived there for last two thousand years.
The aim is to establish Greater Israel in Middle East on the land of Palestine and surrounding areas. Nothing can stop such ambition except Muslim unity and solidarity, which is not possible under prevailing world order. If Muslims do not unite to resist and fight these neo-Crusades, time is far away when similar brutalities and war crimes will be perpetrated in West Bank, Lebanon, Golan Height / Syria, in near future, and in other adjacent Arab land as well. Those who are avoiding the “Conflict,” or are happy that their turn is far away, will repent and regret for not supporting their Palestinian brethren at the times of their suffering and distress. Allah only helps those who are bold enough to make sacrifices in defending themselves. This is the basic lesson from the defensive and protective wars fought by the Prophets (PBUH) in his life in Madina.
This article was published by Daily Minute Mirror, Lahore, Pakistan on March 26, 2024.
