Israel's 'war crime': 18,000 children died not just from bomb explosions but also starvation

By Sandeep Pandey* 

Last year 6 years old Madiha was a guest during Diwali at our home in Lucknow. Listening to the sound of fire crackers bursting outside she remarked, ‘It appears as if we’re in Gaza.’ She has probably no idea of the extent of damage and loss of life that has taken place in Palestine but can relate to sound of crackers as bombs exploding over Gaza.

She will be sad to know that about 18,000 children have died over the last year out of over 42,000 killed, which is more than 40%, not just from bomb explosions which she can imagine but also from starvation.

Israel is not engaged just in a war, it is committing war crimes, violating all norms of a war. It has bombed hospitals, refugee camps and choked life saving supplies including food to Palestinians. If it was any other country which did not have the tacit and overt support of United States and its allies, it would have been tried for war crimes. 

US and the western countries are as much guilty of ignoring war crimes as Israel is of committing them, for it is they who can bring pressure on Israel to end this war. But they are not doing it. They are debating whether it is ‘genocide’ yet or not. The actual number of people killed is by some estimates more than double of above-mentioned.

Some people are already calling it a holocaust. What the Germans did to Jews cannot become a justification for Jews committing the same crime against Palestinians. Israel is trying to erase the existence of Palestine but the Palestinians are valiantly fighting back. In this fight for survival they are supported by Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Most other counties are either supporting Israel or are silent. India is uncertain. 

It stands with the Israeli government but doesn’t want to be seen as supporting the massacre of Palestinians. South Africa demonstrated rare moral uprightness in today’s warped world of geo-politics by taking Israel to the International Court of Justice.

Hamas and Hezbollah are described as terrorist organisations whereas both contest elections. In 2006 Hamas won the mandate to rule Palestine but was prevented from forming government in West Bank. 

Hezbollah has representation in the Lebanese Parliament. It is unclear why they are described as terrorist organisations? If it is because they carry out attacks then how are the armies of elected governments any different? 

In the current war itself Israel has killed many more the number of times of people Hamas may have killed in its entire history. 

Hamas abducted close to 250 Israelis on 7 October, 2023, which cannot be justified in any way. But what justification can be there for over 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, most of them totally innocent? How are they any different from hostages? 

Banning UNRWA would be disastrous especially for Palestinian children, who would be denied life saving support and would be left to die

Considering that Palestine is surrounded on all sides by Israel and the only crossing into Egypt, Rafa is now closed, Palestine is often described as world’s largest open jail. If number of people killed in an attack is a criteria for describing an  attack as ‘terrorist,’ then world’s biggest terrorist attack would be the bombing of Hiroshima. 

The U.S. has till date not apologised for Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings. So, it is a coloured perspective. Merely, because it controls the United Nations, the crimes of U.S. and its allies are ignored and much smaller state and non-state groups who are aligned against the U.S. interests are described as ‘terrorists.’  

Now Israel is trying to ban United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which was created to cater to the over 7,00,000 Palestinian refugees who were evicted from their homes in 1948 and their descendants continue to live in refugees camps. One of the recent Israeli attack has been on the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza. 

UNRWA employs 30,000 Palestinians to carry out its relief work related to health, education, development, etc., out of which Israel has submitted a document on 12 individuals accusing them of having participated in the 7 October attack last year and it claims that about 190 of them are associated with Hamas. 

UNRWA after carrying out its investigation terminated the services of 9 personnel. 

But it is ridiculous that on the pretext of a some undesirable elements who might have infiltrated the agency, Israeli government is bent upon demonising an entire international agency as a supporter of terrorism. It has scant regard for the UN or its Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, exhibiting arrogant tendencies. 

The effect of banning UNRWA would be disastrous as number of Palestinians, especially children, would be denied life saving support and would be left to die. Israel is finding every way in which it can harm the Palestinians. When will the so called progressive democracies of the world decide to bell the cat? Has not enough human rights violation already taken place?

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*General Secretary, Socialist Party (India)