To understand the Gaza problem, one must first understand its historical and political context. Gaza was controlled by the Egyptian military after the 1948 Arab-Israel conflict, but it remained primarily populated by Palestinian Arabs. Israel occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew its settlers and military forces from Gaza, but retained control of the territory’s airspace, territorial waters, and border crossings (with the exception of the Rafah crossing, which is controlled by Egypt). After the Palestinian militant group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade for security reasons. This blockade has significantly hampered the movement of goods and people, exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe.
According to health officials, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel commenced a bombing campaign on the embattled territory in response to a Hamas surprise strike inside Israel on 7th October 2023. Minors account for almost 40% of the fatalities. More than a million people have been displaced, and hundreds of houses have been destroyed in the besieged zone, which has been deprived of water, food, and other basic supplies. Because of Israel’s days-long shelling of Gaza, which has caused substantial damage to schools and hospitals and displaced almost one million people, aid agencies have warned of a “catastrophic” scarcity of medical supplies in the beleaguered territory.
Israel had ordered the relocation of 1.1 million Palestinians from the north to the south, producing terror and distress for tens of thousands in an area where economic stagnation had endured for 16 years due to Israeli blockades. Palestinians have refused to comply with this demand because they do not want to leave their nation. In response, Israel stated that all remaining individuals are terrorists and will be dealt as such. The rest of the world either directly supports these oppressive Zionist policies by backing Israel or indirectly by standing silent.
According to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), located in the United Kingdom, hospitals in Gaza are facing a “catastrophic” scarcity of medical supplies as a result of Israel’s “total blockade.” Surgical supplies, drugs, and blood are becoming increasingly scarce in hospitals. The health-care system is on the point of collapsing, threatening thousands of people, including many renal and cancer patients who are already on the verge of death. According to the UN Population Fund, around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are unable to get health care due to the attacks on multiple hospitals. If the electricity goes out in a hospital, infants in incubators are in grave risk.
Because there aren’t enough body bags, people are storing dead bodies in ice cream trucks. According to the WHO, airstrikes have directly damaged 24 health facilities, including six hospitals, killing numerous health care workers and ambulances. After years of Israeli rule, Gaza’s health-care system had already begun to erode. According to the World Bank, Gaza has one hospital bed for every 1,000 people, while Israel had three. Concerns about the spread of epidemics are mounting, according to UNRWA(United Nations Relief and work Agency) due to the surge of refugees into hospitals, where children are already contracting smallpox.
Since the start of the Israeli attacks on October 7, almost 500,000 Palestinians have been unable to get food rations due to the closure of food distribution locations. Airstrikes have also directly impacted livestock, particularly poultry, as well as agricultural land. The shutdown of Israel’s Karem Abu Salem gate – the only commercial crossing, also known as Kerem Shalom – has blocked the transit of cattle fodder. Farmers cannot access their property, but power shortages prevent them from rescuing their harvests through irrigation, mechanization, incubation devices, or refrigeration. Agriculture losses are most severe in southern regions, such as Khan Younis. According to Euro-Med Monitor, vital food supplies including as eggs, bread, and vegetables are in low supply due to the ongoing displacement and blockade. Gaza residents have reported a food crisis, with youngsters receiving precedence. Food insecurity in Gaza was already severe during Israel’s occupation. According to the World Food Program, 63 percent of the 1.84 million-person population was food insecure.
Potable water has grown even more scarce in Gaza. Families spent hours hunting for water while carrying water flasks, according to Kahout. When individuals do find water, it is mostly from private merchants who run modest solar-powered desalination and water purifying plants. Others are compelled to drink brackish water from farm wells. This raises concerns about aquatic infections such as cholera. According to a June report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 96 percent of water is unfit for human consumption, forcing the majority of families to purchase water from street vendors at a high price – an added burden for a population where, according to the World Bank, every other resident is impoverished.
Water and sanitation facilities, water wells, reservoirs, and pumping stations in Gaza have all been devastated as a result of the ongoing air attacks, resulting in a serious water shortage. Water contamination in the Gaza Strip, which already has a 13-14 percent increase in the number of kidney patients each year, could exacerbate kidney diseases significantly. The final operable wastewater treatment plant in Gaza shut down on Sunday, resulting in the flow of extra untreated effluent into the Mediterranean. Because the majority of the 65 sewage pumping stations have ceased operations owing to a lack of fuel, sewage and solid waste have piled in the streets, posing health and environmental risks.
Residents of Gaza, who live in one of the world’s most densely populated areas, have been pushed even farther into a corner. More than 600,000 Palestinians have been forced to the southern half of Gaza as a result of Israeli air raids and evacuation orders, with more than half of them crowded into UNRWA emergency shelters. This figure is growing at an alarming rate. Despite the lack of order and sanitation, a large number of individuals are seeking refuge here and in schools. This raises the prospect of epidemics in Gaza and elsewhere.
As of October 24th, at least 181,000 dwelling units had been destroyed, with many more rendered inhabitable. Those who have been displaced from their houses live in public housing or with host families. People in the south entertained at least two to three other families, including strangers. The housing crisis in Gaza does not stop there. A vast number of displaced people, including pregnant women, injured people, and children, are sleeping on the streets.
Israel has subjected the Palestinian people to the most heinous form of terrorism. Instead of limiting the fighting to Hamas fighters, Zionists are attacking unarmed civilians. The world is watching genocide in Palestine. Israeli authorities have openly referred to Palestinians as animals who, according to Zionists, must be wiped from the face of the earth.
The world’s silence, particularly that of the Arab world, is now criminal. Their vacuous condemnations of Israel’s conduct are meaningless to the Palestinians. It is past time to take serious action against Israel’s actions, which have completely abandoned humanity. Global hypocrisy about Israel, particularly that of the West, is putting humanity to shame, as it appears that their claims of humanity and freedom are nothing more than a deception.