A day of shame: Besieged Gaza on verge of collapse

According to the United Nations Middle East envoy, "Gaza is on the verge of collapse."

According to the United Nations Middle East envoy, "Gaza is on the verge of collapse" and the Security Council has done nothing to take urgent action to relieve the suffering of the besieged city’s “increasingly desperate people,” including women and children.

Nikolay Mladenov gave the warning just recently while addressing the UN Security Council, where he said that people of Gaza are living with "crippling Israeli closures and with diminishing hopes for an end to the occupation and a political solution. Gaza's infrastructure teeters on the verge of total collapse, particularly its electricity and water networks as well as its health system.”

Mladenov called on the international community to join "in condemning in the strongest possible terms the actions that have led to the loss of so many lives in Gaza" since March. 

It’s a day of shame not only for the Security Council but also certain countries in the Muslim world. Most of the UN Security Council’s anti-Israel resolutions are yet to be implemented, especially those that condemn the Zionist regime’s illegal settlement construction on the Palestinian lands. Also, certain Muslim states, Saudi Arabia at the top, sat on their hands and watched as Israeli forces martyred at least 63 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,700 during protests near the Gaza fence on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba (Day of Catastrophe). They did nothing as Trump relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Al-Quds.
Quite the contrary, they are yet to send any aid to Gaza to help Palestinians to rebuild the devastated city. With thousands of homes reduced to rubble and its infrastructure in ruins, Gaza's reconstruction will cost billions and require lifting Israel's blockade to allow in building materials. Failure to lift the blockade could cause more conflict in Gaza in the future. 

The Palestinians say they need up to $6 billion to fix hospitals, roads, schools, water facilities and factories hit by Israeli shelling and bombing. But all this could happen if the usurper regime first lifts the illegal blockade. The blockade implemented by Israel and reinforced by Egypt has been ongoing since 2007 causing unbearable human suffering.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at various times, Israel has blocked a full range of goods that include almost everything from wheelchairs, tea, jam, lentils, dry food items and crayons to stationery, soccer balls, and musical instruments. These restrictions have affected the most vulnerable - babies and children the hardest. A World Health Organization assessment estimates that the level of anemia in babies (9-12 months) is as high as 65%.

Gazans are also living an electricity crisis; the restrictions on the import of spare parts, equipment, and fuel have led to chronic power cuts lasting between 12-16 hours a day. Gazans are forced to live in the pre-Edison age and use candles; however, the impact of power shortages is more profound and goes beyond that. Health services are on the brink of collapse and safe drinking water is in short supply with more than 70% of households in Gaza being supplied with piped water for 6-8 hours only once every two to four days.
The blockade has also dealt a devastating blow to the economy of Gaza. According to the World Bank, the blockade has led to an estimated 50% drop in Gaza’s GDP. Today 43% of Gaza's 1.8 million residents are unemployed; a figure said to be the highest in the world, and 80% of families are living below the poverty line. This is a tragic situation and no human being is supposed to endure such misery.

The usurper regime of Israel claims that the blockade is necessary to prevent Palestine’s Hamas from obtaining weapons and is necessary to deny it the capability to launch rockets into the occupied lands called Israel. However, many of the items banned or restricted by Israel have no plausible threat to Israel’s security. Bringing the economy of Gaza to the point of complete collapse will not contribute to the security of the occupying regime, nor will the travel prohibitions against Gaza residents who pose no security risk. Furthermore, the Israeli and Egyptian assumption that the blockade will pressure Hamas to give up its rule is a misplaced one.

However, meeting the humanitarian needs of Gaza and lifting the blockade are the least the UN Security Council could do in these desperate times. The blockade constitutes a kind of collective punishment of the population, and as such, is unlawful and in violation of International Law and International Humanitarian Law. More importantly, the blockade and the human suffering it causes is one of the biggest stains on the conscience of humanity in this time and age. The UN and the Security Council have the responsibility and the obligation to pressure Israel and Egypt to lift the blockade immediately. It’s not only the ethical thing to do, but also the wise thing to do, and is in the interest of regional peace and security.

On Monday, May 14, and despite international outcry, President Donald Trump relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Al-Quds, the future capital of the state of Palestine. The narcissist president of the United States knows full well that it's a bad idea, and he doesn’t need to look any farther. The deadly results of his criminal decision are out there for all the world to see. Little did he realize that it’s easier to hold onto a bad idea if you never share it, and it’s harder to defend one if you let it out. Whatever he is thinking, the relocation of the US embassy was a bad idea.

Tens of Palestinians were martyred in Gaza and more than 2,700 others wounded as the Israeli army fired live ammunition, tear gas and firebombs at protesters assembled along several points near the illegal fence with Israel. The demonstrations, which coincided with protests against the opening of the US embassy, are part of weeks-long movement calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to the areas they were forcibly expelled from in 1948. The severity of the injuries demonstrates that Israeli forces are resorting to disproportionate force to incapacitate these protesters. The result is unnecessary damage and suffering.

The next day, Tuesday, marked the annual commemorations of the Nakba, or "catastrophe", when the illegal entity ‘Israel’ was created by the US and Britain on May 15, 1948, in a violent campaign that led to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their towns and villages. Since the protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have martyred hundreds of Palestinians in the coastal enclave and wounded about thousands. Sure enough, Trump’s embassy move only encouraged Israel to intensify its campaign of terror and genocide in Gaza.

Human rights groups, United Nations Human Rights Council, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation have all condemned Israel’s genocide. They have also denounced the relocation of the US embassy and are holding the Trump White House to account for its complicity in the murdering of Palestinian protesters.

It’s wishful thinking for countries like France and Britain to call for Israel to exercise restraint in its murderous response to the demonstrations. It’s also foolish for the Trump White House to claim that “Israel has a right to defend itself.” The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Trump. By relocating the US embassy, Trump has intentionally and cynically provoked this response.

Western leaders and the public betrayed the Palestinians in 1948. There is no sign, 70 years on, that the West is about to change its ways. Unfortunately, they are responding to the illegal and unwarranted use of lethal force against unarmed Palestinians with a shrug, and as usual the Israeli regime is being shielded at the UN Security Council by the US from the consequences of its outrageous actions.
It’s time for all governments to recall their ambassadors to Tel Aviv and Washington, not just for consultations, but for cutting all diplomatic-economic ties with this murderous regime that only understands the language of force. The world community should boycott Israel.

It’s not enough for the UN Human Rights High Commissioner to condemn Israel and declare that 'Israeli live fire in Gaza must stop.' Israeli live fire martyring Palestinians in Gaza won’t stop immediately because the UN is not taking any immediate action to stop the horror show. The UN can and should stop this premeditated violence and bring those responsible to justice using all the available diplomatic and legal channels.

The same goes to the Arab League. Members of this Saudi-influenced regional organization should hold their heads in shame for looking the other way while Israel continues to murder peaceful Palestinian protesters in cold blood. Then again, not much should be expected from the Saudi-led states, who are busy massacring innocent civilians in Yemen with a helping hand from the United States, Israel, and the NATO extras.

Those who are losing their lives in the besieged city of Gaza for protesting against the US-backed Israeli apartheid wall are not trying to cross a border and enter Israel illegally, as the usurper regime would like to suggest. The truth is different. There is no border because there is no Palestinian state. By relocating the US embassy to Al-Quds, Trump has made sure of that. Palestinians live under occupation, with Israel controlling every aspect of their lives. In Gaza, even the air and sea is Israel’s domain.
However, the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland is recognized in United Nations Resolutions. Israel has been crafting a dishonest counter-narrative ever since the Nakba, myths that historians scouring the archives have slowly exploded. A majority of Gaza’s population today are descended from refugees driven into the enclave in 1948. They have been penned up ever since. That is why the Palestinians’ current protests take place under the banner of the March of Return. Mind you, they don’t even have a minimal state. It’s a premeditated humanitarian catastrophe.

(Courtesy of FNA)

EA