Stop the genocide

More than one million people in Gaza are facing renewed terror after receiving an emergency order to evacuate Gaza City. This morning, with hundreds of thousands of civilians still trapped inside, the Israeli military began its ground invasion. For many, escape is impossible – the elderly, critically unwell, heavily pregnant or wounded. Those left behind have been handed a death sentence.

People who attempt to flee do so under intensifying bombardments. Those who survive the journey will reach overcrowded areas in central and southern Gaza where they will find neither safety nor the basics they need to exist. A population pushed to the brink by almost two years of extreme brutality faces catastrophe.

What is happening in Gaza is not just a humanitarian catastrophe. It is the systematic destruction of a people. Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym MSF) is clear: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and doing so with absolute impunity.

The human toll is staggering. According to the latest figures from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 64,000 people have been killed, including 20,000 children. The true death toll is likely higher because many more people are buried under the rubble of hospitals, schools and homes.

There is no safe place in Gaza. Entire families have been wiped out while sheltering in their homes. Health workers have been killed while tending to the sick. Journalists have been targeted for bearing witness. The Israeli military has attacked everything and everyone in Gaza.

High-intensity weapons designed for open battlefields – some sold to Israel by the United States and European governments – are being used in densely populated urban areas where people are sheltering in tents. We are treating devastating injuries as a result.

The Israeli authorities have systematically targeted Gaza’s healthcare system – bombing hospitals, raiding medical facilities, and endangering the lives of staff and patients – acts that may amount to war crimes. The few hospitals that remain are overwhelmed and undersupplied. Patients suffer and die needlessly.

Twelve of our colleagues have been killed, and MSF orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mohammed Obeid remains detained by Israel since October. In total, more than 1,500 health workers have been killed. Each one is a devastating loss – for their families and for Gaza’s besieged health system.

The impact of the genocidal war extends beyond direct attacks. Israeli authorities have deliberately choked Gaza, imposing a total siege, with severe restrictions on fuel, water, food and medical supplies.

A policy of collective punishment, including starvation by design, has achieved its brutal objective – famine has been declared. A recent survey at our clinics in Gaza showed 25 percent of pregnant or breastfeeding women were malnourished, which can increase the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and premature birth.

The limited food assistance available has been cynically weaponised. An Israeli-run, US-funded operation is responsible for killing 1,400 people and injuring 4,000 more. We have treated children shot in the chest while reaching for food and people crushed or suffocated in stampedes. This level of brutality is unconscionable.

Deliberate shortages of water are fuelling disease. Last month, MSF treated 4,000 people for watery diarrhoea – potentially deadly for malnourished children. MSF could increase the supply of clean drinking water but is regularly blocked from doing so.

Excerpted: ‘Doctors can’t stop genocide. World leaders can’.

Courtesy: Aljazeera.com