FOR over six months, Israel has been on a killing spree in Gaza, bombing residential buildings, hospitals, mosques, even refugee camps. The overwhelming majority of casualties are civilians, mostly women and minors. Adding to Israel’s crimes against humanity are the restrictions on the Gazans’ access to humanitarian assistance, including food and medicine supplies, and the killing of aid workers. The harrowing details of the apocalyptic, famine-like conditions in Gaza are heartbreaking.
Initially, after the Hamas attack on Israel last October, Western countries justified the ferocious assault on Gaza’s people as Israel’s right to self-defence. However, when the bombings intensified and the killings multiplied, massive protests erupted across the world, including in major American and European cities. Public opinion in the West began to swing against the Israeli government for the brutalities it was committing. A series of Security Council resolutions were mooted, calling upon Israel to effect an immediate ceasefire, but the US veto prevented their adoption. In January, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must take measures to prevent the crime of genocide against the Palestinians. The ICJ is now considering charges against Germany for facilitating Israel’s genocide by supplying weapons.