The massacre that has been taking place for six months in the Gaza Strip and has already killed more than 32,000 Palestinians would be revealing globally how the Israeli presence works in the occupied territory, a Hamas leader said this Thursday (28).
“We revealed to the world the true face of the Israeli occupation,” political leader Khalil al-Yahya told Iranian broadcaster Press TV.
In addition to asking for more support from other Arab countries, he said that, after the massacre, Gaza will be governed by Palestinians, despite Israel having already indicated that it intends to have influence over the future administration of the territory.
“Gaza will be governed by Palestinians,” he said. According to Al-Yahya, this future government will be formed by national consensus and Israel will not impose its will on the “resistance movement”.
He said that Hamas is in dialogue with Fatah — the group that controls the other Palestinian territory, the West Bank. Al-Yahya stated that although he is not optimistic about a possible ceasefire in the near future, Hamas would be willing to negotiate “with a great degree of flexibility”.
The massacre continues
Although the UN approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, Israel did not reduce the pace of the massacre. Bombings took place throughout the territory, including Rafah, in the south, the last place in Gaza where more than a million Palestinians are taking refuge. There are fears that the Rafah invasion could occur at any time.
The siege of Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, reaches its tenth day, with more than 200 people killed by Israel. This Thursday (28) a six-year-old boy died of hunger at Adwan hospital, in northern Gaza.
Hospital bombed by Israel on fire in the Gaza Strip: massacre of civilians / X State of Palestine
The UN has been warning daily that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is about to cause mass deaths as a result of acute malnutrition. Using hunger as a weapon of war is prohibited by international law and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, told the BBC that there is evidence that Israel has been doing this, which would be a “war crime”. The UN this week said there is evidence of genocide carried out by Israel.
A TV Al Jazeera showed images of two unarmed and surrendered Palestinians being killed by Israeli soldiers. A Reuters obtained images of Israeli soldiers in Palestinian homes playing with women’s underwear and posting them on social media. For an Islamic and conservative society like the Palestinian one, the act is considered especially disrespectful.
Gallup poll indicates that the majority of Americans disapprove of Israeli military actions in Gaza. The survey carried out in the first 20 days of March shows that 55% of US residents are against the actions, compared to 45% in November.
American support for the Israeli massacre also fell, from 50% in November to 36% in March.
Context
The current Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip — or military operation as Israel calls it — began in October last year, but conditions in the Palestinian territory were already considered “suffocating” by the UN before that.
The 17-year Israeli blockade — to force Hamas, the party that won the Palestinian elections in 2006, to give up power — generated unemployment rates of 45% and food insecurity that affected 64% of the population. The UN estimated that more than 80% of Gaza residents depended on foreign aid to survive.
On October 7, members of Hamas entered Israel and carried out the most violent attack ever suffered by the country, leaving around 1,200 dead and capturing 240 hostages. The Netanyahu government’s response was considered disproportionate by the international community. Daily bombings in what is considered one of the most densely populated territories in the world have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed the entire infrastructure of Gaza.
The number of fatalities exceeded 32 thousand Palestinians — around 70% of them women and children —, with more than 8 thousand people missing under the rubble. 35% of the buildings were destroyed and practically all of the more than two million inhabitants were forced to leave their homes. In the other occupied Palestinian territory, the West Bank, illegal violence carried out by Israeli settlers is daily, with more than 500 deaths. Since the start of the conflict, thousands of Palestinians have been arrested and the government has announced that thousands more will be detained this year.
The UN warns of a humanitarian disaster, accusing Israel of using collective hunger as a weapon of war and the real possibility that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will die due to lack of food.
Editing: Matheus Alves de Almeida
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
