And the horrors continue in Gaza. In this human slaughter, Israeli warplanes have had no compunction in bombing homes, houses, and flats in buildings of ordinary civilians.
Figures have been mind boggling as more than 12000 children have died in this war that began soon after 7 October. The Israeli war machines have killed more than 30,000 people so far.
Today, it is the turn of Rafah to be destroyed. Israeli big guns are already doing the rounds and killing and striking homes.
Originally a city of 280,000 today Rafah has exploded with a population of 1.4 million. The people have been assembled here through big guns and explosives reigning down on them. Ever since the carnage, Israelis have told Palestinian families to keep moving here, starting from the north, center, east and west.
Many, including those from the international community fear Israel plans to carry out a mass slaughter of civilians under the pretext of destroying Hamas. But Hamas fighters are nowhere to be seen here, just scared families.
Destroying Palestinian homes has become the usual thing. In this slaughter, through warplanes, missiles from ships and through ground troops, the Israelis have/are carrying out what can only be carried as mass slaughter against the Palestinian people. A genocide is happening with many in the world condoning it because they prefer to give it a different name.
Bombs and the destruction of babies has been a regular feature of this carnage. Now, when we look at dead babies and children, we become numb. It’s almost a surreal experience to watch what has been done in the last five months in terms of destruction and killing.
Babies, toddlers and children have frequently been brought out from under the rubble. Some barely alive but most are dead. Caked in dried mud and cement, they are held lifeless by their parents for the world to see. This is not to say anything about the people who are still underground, estimated at around 8000, 9000, 10000 people. Is difficult to measure
They can’t be dug up simply because there is no heavy machinery to remove the piles upon piles of debris.
One feature of this screaming war has been hunger and starvation. Many people, from newly-born babies to children, youths, men and women have and are dying because there is simply no food.
Israeli politicians including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says this is one of the instruments of war to starve what he calls as “human animals”.
Official figures say people have one meal every three days. In the north of the Gaza Strip people have been cracking animal feed to make it into bread, and that is running out anyway with food trucks standing at the border of Rafah and the north and being prevented from entering. Israeli settlers are cowering in front of trucks and preventing them from crossing.
There is hunger, starvation and famine. US president Joe Biden has ordered the US to send shipments of wheat to be sent to Gaza but this is still waiting at the borders with the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich refusing to let these pass into the starving strip.
These pictures would shock the world if they are not in Gaza. It’s a big poster of kids in in the Strip, mistaking a time-bomb that blew up in their faces because they dug it up, thinking it’s a can of sardines.
In this war, there is a great deal of double standards. Western countries have been up-in-arms about supplying Ukraine with money and weapons to fight what are termed as the Russian invaders.
In the Gaza case all the money, weaponry and troops are coming from western countries to the Israeli army to fight the Palestinians. Its incredible and unbelievable how humanity and statehood has become twisted.
https://x.com/twit_inter/status/1757857335324680328?s=46&t=uuXyhIt3Vz3B6jBc2Fz1iA
Pope Francis has spoken time and again against the Israeli carnage in Gaza. But this time the Israelis, lashed out against the Vatican after the deputy of the Pope who called for a stop to what’s happening.
The Israeli statement described the comments from Rome as “deplorable” claiming many of the civilians killed, now standing at 30,000, are Hamas supporters and their death is justifiable.
But other important leaders are speaking their minds because they are seeing what is happening in front of them in plain daylight: Horrors of war. Josep Borrell, foreign policy chief in the EU, didn’t mince his words:
“Let’s be logical. How many times have year heard the most prominent leaders around the world saying ‘too many people are being killed’. President Biden says this is too much on the top, it’s not proportional. Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed. Is this not logical?
Everybody goes to Tel Aviv, begging please don’t do that, protect civilians, don’t kill so many. How many is too many, which is the standard. But Netanyahu doesn’t listen to anyone. They are going to evacuate but where? To the moon. Where are they going to evacuate these people to. So, if the International community believes this is slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe they have to think about the provision of arms…” he added.
Dr Marwan Asmar is a journalist based in Amman, Jordan
