International governments must finally act to end the atrocities in Gaza and must use all their leverage – including ending arms sales and withholding other diplomatic and financial support – to ensure an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access, Islamic Relief Worldwide says as the crisis passes 6 months. With more than 33,000 Palestinians killed, famine looming and Israel preventing aid from reaching starving children, time is running out.
Reports that recent attacks on aid workers and civilians are likely to have involved internationally-made weapons show that halting arms sales is a matter of life and death. Governments that continue such support are likely to be complicit in the killing of civilians and serious violations of international humanitarian law, Islamic Relief Worldwide says.
The speed and magnitude of the suffering in Gaza over the past 6 months is a permanent stain on humanity and has done irreparable damage to international law all over the world. Islamic Relief Worldwide asks: How many more starving babies, bombed hospitals, dead aid workers, razed neighbourhoods and heartbroken families will it take before world leaders finally say, enough?
For 6 months Israel has indiscriminately killed thousands of Palestinian civilians, including record numbers of children, aid workers, health workers and journalists.
For 6 months Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war and systematically prevented aid getting to people in need. Aid workers have been killed trying to deliver food, and desperate parents have been killed trying to collect it. Aid trucks are just minutes away from starving children but are stuck waiting for permission to enter. At a time when up to 1,000 trucks of aid are needed daily, last week an average of 150 were able to enter.
An Islamic Relief aid worker in Gaza, whose name is withheld for his safety, says: “After each atrocity I thought, surely the world will stop this now. But no, it’s continued. We had hope when the International Court of Justice made its ruling, and when the Security Council voted for a ceasefire. But the killing and destruction has never stopped.”
In recent weeks the UN Security Council finally called for a ceasefire during Ramadan, and the International Court of Justice issued further measures demanding that Israel allows more aid into Gaza and increases the capacity, number and opening hours of land crossings. If implemented, these steps would save countless lives, but Israel continues to ignore these rulings with impunity and there has been no change on the ground. International governments must now use all leverage to hold Israel accountable.
Efforts to get aid in via sea or air are not working, and in some cases have themselves become deadly. Only an end to Israel’s siege and sustained access via land can prevent famine and massive loss of life now. At a time when children are starving, governments that continue to defund UNRWA while still supporting Israel as it blocks humanitarian aid are complicit in starvation.
After 6 months, more than 1 million children need mental health and psychosocial support. 10-year-old Mariam told Islamic Relief staff in Gaza: “I feel like I’ve aged years beyond my actual age. My family and I are living through the worst days of fear, terror, insecurity, cold, hunger, and thirst. We never imagined we would experience such days. We have been deprived of our entire childhood and our right to live a safe life.”
This collective punishment of Gaza’s entire civilian population continues in full sight of the world. People in Gaza and international UN bodies have repeatedly warned there is a very real risk of ethnic cleansing and an act of genocide. No governments can say they weren’t aware of the deadly consequences of allowing the current situation to continue. This catastrophe cannot, and must not, be allowed to continue any longer.
