In continuing tragedy in Gaza, Israeli air strikes on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza killed 18 including six staffers from the UN Palestinian refugee agency. The agency, home to 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children, has been hit five times since the war began. Although the United Nations chief Antony Guterres termed the killings unacceptable, nothing can be expected to change on the ground. Israel has defended the strike on Gaza school compound, even as condemnation mounts. The war has been grinding on for close to one year now and it is nowhere close to ceasefire, let alone an end.
While the west is conniving with Israel including supplying it with money and equipment, the rest of the world seems both unconcerned and helpless. Israel has already leveled large swathes of Gaza, otherwise a small land strip, 25 miles in length and 7.5 miles in width. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, but Israel is in no mood to relent and the world feels little urgency to stop it. According to the World Health Organization, about a quarter of the people wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza – at least 22,500 Palestinians – have injuries that are “life-changing.”
Now is the time for the world to redouble its efforts to conclude a ceasefire. Hamas has once again announced its willingness to “immediately implement” a ceasefire based on the US presented proposal agreed by the group in May. The group denied it had placed new demands on a ceasefire agreement and rejected any new terms issued by any side. As families are uprooted, children are traumatized, and basic infrastructure crumbles, Gaza faces a future marked by deeper poverty, psychological trauma, and social fragmentation. The international community cannot afford to look away while Gaza descends into further chaos.
That said, it is urgent for the world to work for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. A mere temporary halt in hostilities is insufficient. What is needed is a long-term solution that addresses the root causes of the conflict and paves the way for a lasting peace. The new emphasis by the international community on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal, prisoner exchange, reconstruction, and the return of displaced persons is a step in the right direction.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza cannot be overstated. The war has pushed the enclave to the brink of starvation, with over a million people facing extreme hunger. It is time that the west acts, just as it did once in 1995 in order to end the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims.
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