Breathe
By Cristina Gutiérrez
Yesterday, October 7, 2024, marked one year since the atrocious Hamas attacks that left more than 1,200 people dead and 250 people were kidnapped in southern Israel. It also marks one year since the start of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of more than 41,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and the forced displacement of approximately 2 million people inside the Gaza Strip.
Throughout this year Israel has carried out a series of air and ground attacks with devastating consequences for the Palestinian population. Israel has destroyed entire villages, almost completely damaged the health infrastructure and wiped out the Gaza Strip's food, water and fuel supplies. Depriving the population in Gaza of food has been used since the beginning of the war as a collective and indiscriminate punishment that seeks to use hunger as a weapon of war; according to the World Bank, more than half of the Gazan population is on the verge of starvation. Water scarcity is another major risk for the population in Gaza, according to FAO, water supply is at 7% of pre October 7, 2023 levels and 70% of water wells have been destroyed.
A UN committee estimates that since October 7, as a result of Israel's indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, some 17,000 children have died in the Gaza Strip, at least one million have been displaced, 21,000 are missing, 20,000 have lost one or both parents and 17,000 are alone or separated from their families. Dozens of children have died from malnutrition and at least 3,500 are at risk of death from lack of food and clean water. The psychological damage this war has inflicted on Gaza's children will have unimaginable repercussions that will be difficult for them to overcome.
It is estimated that about 70% of the buildings and homes in Gaza have been damaged by Israeli shelling, with much of them reduced to rubble. Attacks have repeatedly hit shelters, schools and hospitals, including UN facilities, and 85% of the health infrastructure has been destroyed. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of August 19, at least 207 aid workers and 885 health workers had been killed in Gaza by Israel, including seven volunteers from the NGO World Central Kitchen who were killed while trying to get food to the Palestinian population. In addition, at least 175 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict.
Meanwhile, since October 7, more than 650 people - including 147 children - have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers and soldiers. The Israeli army has carried out several ground and aerial incursions into refugee camps and towns in the occupied Palestinian territory, and Israeli settler violence against the Palestinian population is increasing.
Attempts to put an end to the war in Gaza have not been few and the UN Security Council has already approved a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which was not complied with by Israel. In several countries, civilian protests and demonstrations in favor of a ceasefire have contrasted with the silence of the most powerful and influential governments which, far from stopping this humanitarian crisis, have continued to supply arms and economic support to Israel. With Israel's latest attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the conflict is taking on a widening regional character and a ceasefire in Gaza looks increasingly distant. It is imperative that the international community act to stop this conflict which is increasingly taking on genocidal overtones; a collective punishment against the more than two million Palestinians still living in Gaza, more than 40% of whom are children. We cannot allow this to continue, silence and inaction in this case may become the greatest shame of humanity.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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