ISRAELI bombing of Gaza this week, two months after a ceasefire was announced, has been condemned by Christian groups.
Palestinian health authorities reported on Tuesday that strikes overnight had killed 404 people. The Roman Catholic aid agency CAFOD called on the UK government to “urgently and unequivocally condemn the atrocities committed by Israeli forces overnight and exert all diplomatic pressure to restore the ceasefire and ensure the sustained delivery of much needed humanitarian aid”.
The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, said: “We unequivocally condemn this unnecessary re-escalation of violence, which has led to more deaths and further suffering for innocent civilians, including women and children. . . we call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a renewed commitment to dialogue and diplomatic solutions.”
A statement issued on Tuesday by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the Israel Defense Forces were “attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip in order to achieve the objectives of the war as they have been determined by the political echelon including the release of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased. Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Caritas Jerusalem, a partner of Embrace the Middle East that has 100 staff in Gaza operating across ten medical points, issued a statement on Tuesday reporting “fears of mass starvation” in the Strip. It had suspended all operations in Gaza, but was “determined to resume life-saving services as soon as possible. We plead for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the bloodshed before more innocent lives are lost.”
The ceasefire was announced on 15 January and began four days later (News, 17 January). During the first stage of the ceasefire, scheduled to last for 42 days, Hamas released 25 living Israeli hostages and eight dead hostages, in return for the release of 1900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza. The UN reported that thousands of trucks carrying aid had entered Gaza, “reaching nearly every person in the Strip”.
But stage two of the ceasefire, which would entail a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops, has stalled. Israel has called for an extension of the first stage and the release of the remaining hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas has condemned this as “a blatant attempt to evade the agreement and avoid entering into negotiations for the second phase”. Israel responded by blocking the entry of aid trucks into Gaza on 2 March.
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has condemned this move as a “breach of international law”.
On Tuesday, Save the Children’s regional director in the Middle East, Ahmad Alhendawi, said: “Children and families in Gaza have barely caught their breath and are now being plunged back into a horrifically familiar world of harm that they cannot escape. . .
“These air strikes come as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain displaced, their homes destroyed and uninhabitable, with tents all that stand between them and explosive weapons designed for wide reach. Children are the most vulnerable to explosive weapons. Their lighter bodies are thrown further by the blasts and their bones are softer and bend more easily, with higher risk of secondary injuries and long-term deformities and disabilities. Their small bodies have less blood to lose — a death sentence when emergency services can’t safely operate and reach them. . .
“When children are slaughtered en masse, humanity’s moral and legal foundations crumble. We have seen it for ourselves: the only way to ensure children and families are protected as international law requires is through a ceasefire. This time, it must be definitive — the constant threat of war cannot be left hanging over their heads.”
UNICEF quoted reports that more than 130 children had been killed in the strikes, “representing one of the largest single-day-child death tolls in the last year”. The UN has estimated that between 12,000 and 14,000 people, including more than 4500 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation from Gaza.
The medical director of the Anglican-run Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, Dr Maher Ayyad, told Embrace the Middle East, in a film posted online this month, that demand for the hospital’s services had not calmed during the ceasefire. Thousands had sought medical attention, some were chronically ill, and some were in need of surgery. The hospital had the only CT scanner in Gaza City and its outpatient clinic was seeing between 500 and 700 patients a day. Its ICU was completely full, and it was hiring more staff to meet demand.
