Even after the scathing criticism by the United Nations, Israel is continuing with its brutal attack on the Palestinians. The missile assault on the schools run by the United Nations under pretext of attacking ‘hiding’ Hamas militants should be condemned by all who give any importance to human values and ideals. In the military attack on the Gaza strip, about 1,200 people have lost their lives, where one third is children and young people. Humanitarian groups have called for an immediate end to the conflict as people in the Gaza strip are reeling under pressures of hunger, power outages, lack of basic sanitation and medicine.
Human rights activism often takes no cognisance of political facts and always considers it beyond its own realm. Therefore we are not interested in knowing who is politically correct, the Israelis or the Hamas. The gross human rights violation perpetrated by the Israeli forces needed to be condemned in the strongest of terms. The United Nations has called for a war crimes investigation into the actions of the Israeli forces as their actions are nothing but genocide. In any war women and children are given exemption from killing by the warring forces. But in its assault, Israel made no distinction between men, women and children. They were just inclined towards killing and handing over maximum destruction to Palestinian people in Gaza and their infrastructure. As a result of the destruction of the infrastructure, there has been shortage of basic supplies like food, water and medicine. On June 28, the Israeli IAF bombed the major power plant in Gaza and hence electrical outages have become common. Hospitals, sewage treatment plants and water utilities are working on generators that are having outdated electronic parts and are in the verge of breakdown.
About 85% of people in Gaza are dependent upon the food handouts of the United Nations World Food Program. Because of the continuous bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the aid workers of the United Nations are not able to carry out their responsibilities. The killing of a truck driver of the UN made it suspend all relief operations in Gaza. This has made matters worse for the Gazans and now a lot of those families are living on one meal a day. The situation would result in problems of chronic malnutrition for the children in Gaza and that would mean that the crisis can lead to some long term health issues to those children. Therefore it is important for the international community to find an immediate solution for the crisis in Gaza.
Another dismaying fact coming out of this crisis is that Israel had used white phosphorous as a weapon against the civilians of Gaza. The use of white phosphorous as a weapon has been banned by Third Convention on Conventional Weapons that deals with incendiary weapons. Israel is not a signatory of the agreement but still the use of such horrific weapons that cause burn from the skin to the bone to the civilian population must not be used under any circumstances.
Once the conflict ends, Israel administration will have some serious questions to answer. The attacks that have killed thousands of civilians, children in particular, are outrageous attacks on humanity. The international community has the onus to judge whether these attacks are war crimes and if they are the perpetrators should be brought to book. Humanitarian aid workers and organisations like the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have a daunting task ahead of them even after the crisis is over. They have to provide aid to the people of Gaza who by now would have lost all hope. Human Rights organisations should also work in tandem with the aid organisations to bring relief and support to the ordinary people of Gaza.
Human rights activism often takes no cognisance of political facts and always considers it beyond its own realm. Therefore we are not interested in knowing who is politically correct, the Israelis or the Hamas. The gross human rights violation perpetrated by the Israeli forces needed to be condemned in the strongest of terms. The United Nations has called for a war crimes investigation into the actions of the Israeli forces as their actions are nothing but genocide. In any war women and children are given exemption from killing by the warring forces. But in its assault, Israel made no distinction between men, women and children. They were just inclined towards killing and handing over maximum destruction to Palestinian people in Gaza and their infrastructure. As a result of the destruction of the infrastructure, there has been shortage of basic supplies like food, water and medicine. On June 28, the Israeli IAF bombed the major power plant in Gaza and hence electrical outages have become common. Hospitals, sewage treatment plants and water utilities are working on generators that are having outdated electronic parts and are in the verge of breakdown.
About 85% of people in Gaza are dependent upon the food handouts of the United Nations World Food Program. Because of the continuous bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the aid workers of the United Nations are not able to carry out their responsibilities. The killing of a truck driver of the UN made it suspend all relief operations in Gaza. This has made matters worse for the Gazans and now a lot of those families are living on one meal a day. The situation would result in problems of chronic malnutrition for the children in Gaza and that would mean that the crisis can lead to some long term health issues to those children. Therefore it is important for the international community to find an immediate solution for the crisis in Gaza.
Another dismaying fact coming out of this crisis is that Israel had used white phosphorous as a weapon against the civilians of Gaza. The use of white phosphorous as a weapon has been banned by Third Convention on Conventional Weapons that deals with incendiary weapons. Israel is not a signatory of the agreement but still the use of such horrific weapons that cause burn from the skin to the bone to the civilian population must not be used under any circumstances.
Once the conflict ends, Israel administration will have some serious questions to answer. The attacks that have killed thousands of civilians, children in particular, are outrageous attacks on humanity. The international community has the onus to judge whether these attacks are war crimes and if they are the perpetrators should be brought to book. Humanitarian aid workers and organisations like the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have a daunting task ahead of them even after the crisis is over. They have to provide aid to the people of Gaza who by now would have lost all hope. Human Rights organisations should also work in tandem with the aid organisations to bring relief and support to the ordinary people of Gaza.
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