Like many merry or ominous days, October 7s will never be the same again. It is going to be one of those days the world will always remember. It was the day Hamas fighters – a group “committed to armed resistance against Israel” – stormed communities along Israel’s southern fence where at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, tally based on official Israeli statistics, and about 240 others seized as captives.
Though the group said avoiding civilians casualties in brawl “is a religious and moral commitment” by fighters of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, numerous were killed during the attack.
“If there was any case of targeting civilians; it happened accidentally and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces,” Hamas spelt out.
Israeli authorities accused Hamas fighters of committing war crimes during the attack, including torture, rape and mutilation, following the incident. These allegations have strongly been rejected by Hamas, who stressed that it targeted Israeli military sites and to capture their soldiers, which could be used to pressure Israeli authorities to release thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli military has gone on rampage to exact revenge, no minding who or what crosses their path. Women, children, schools, residents and even hospitals have been leveled to the ground. Death toll has now surpassed 28,000, majority being innocent civilians including infants in incubators who have barely taken in any natural air.
A dramatic CCTV footage released released by Hamas on Tuesday (January 30, 2024) showed Israeli security forces engaged in a hospital raid that killed at least three Palestinians. The footage showed around a dozen Israeli troops running with rifles through a corridor in Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank. You then wonder, what the sick has got to with this, painful!
In the wake of the ongoing war, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing allegations of having ties with Hamas, as such United States has decided to temporarily suspend approximately $300,000 in funding.
The United States joined the list of countries that have suspended funding to UNRWA following Israel’s accusations that certain UNRWA personnel played a role in the October 7 attack orchestrated by Hamas. This has further exacerbated humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
The World Health Organization’s emergencies director Michael Ryan has said that Gaza is suffering under constraints on humanitarian aid. Things are getting worse without food, water, or medical supply.
The situation in Khan Younis according to Palestine Ministry of Health has “‘threatens the death of many wounded and sick people as a result of targeting and the lack of medical capabilities,” adding that both hospitals in the area, few of remaining healthcare facilities in Gaza, have also run out of food among other essentials.
According to Ryan at a press conference “this population that is starving to death, this is a population that is being pushed to the brink and they are not parties to this conflict.”
Top Palestinian officials and Hamas have criticised the decision by nearly a dozen Western countries to suspend funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians and called for an immediate reversal of the move, which entails “great” risk. The call has not made any difference because crisis continues,
Though UNRWA earlier said it had opened an investigation after Israel alleged that some of its employees were involved in the October attacks that triggered the current conflict, it is high time to conclude the enquiry and possibly arrest the “guilty” for humanitarian aids to resume in order to alleviate suffering of innocent Palestinians.
In all this, South Africa has taken a dramatical stance by taking the Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges of genocide which elicited polarised global responses. Critics accuse South Africa of theatre, political opportunism and double standards, while supporters laud its principled and clear-eyed stance.
But the truth remains, South Africa may be the only nation that has done the right thing. The world should not wait till the Israelis wipe out the whole Palestine in the name of retaliation.
Not long ago the so called super power were head over heels on Russia invading Ukraine, same people are mute on the Hamas-Israel situation. I guess this could be a crystal clear issue of double standard. Who knows?
South African politicians and freedom fighter, Julious Sellob Molema, has questioned the way Israeli authorities are handling the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza. “How do you bomb a Hospital? Even if the president of Hamas runs into the hospital and hides you can’t bomb that hospital, also how do you bomb a refugee facility? Even if Hamas run into the refugee camp, you are in no position to bomb a refugee camp.
To tell you the truth gentlemen, it may just be an attempt to ethnic cleansing, a move to wipe out Palestinians. This is just an act of genocide and an international crime against the Palestinian people. Netanyahu must be arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The big question now is, who will take care of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip? Since Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, United States and others have halted support?
Everyone has expected the Arab world to play an important role by providing the needed aids to the Gazans. They can help without really getting involved in the war. But, kash! the Arabs are nowhere near providing any form of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza to arrest the situation which rendered thousand of people hungry and homeless.
As the war rages on, one will wonder why the world is afraid of the Israelis!! Who will save the Gazans as the world seem to have turned against them?
Idris Umar Feta,
PRNigeria, Wuye,
Abuja.
