Genocide by starvation, bullets and bombs

By Fr. Shay Cullen

The world lacks strong and outspoken leaders who can forcefully take to task the Israeli government and what its forces are doing in the Gaza Strip right now: killing the Palestinian civilians there through violence or starvation — a move that many have condemned as genocide. As many as 111 humanitarian organizations around the world have denounced Israel’s denial of sufficient food, medicine and humanitarian aid to the Gazans.

In a recent statement, these agencies “denounced the Israeli government’s ‘siege’ of Gaza, and urges governments to act to open all land crossings; restore the flow of food, water, medicine, shelter items and fuel into Gaza ‘through a principled, UN (United Nations)-led mechanism’; end the siege; and agree to an immediate ceasefire.”

They noted the near-daily massacres of Palestinians at food distribution sites in Gaza, and cited the UN in saying that 875 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food and thousands more have been injured.

“The starvation of civilians is a war crime,” the organizations said.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitoring system, said the “worst-case scenario of famine” was now happening in Gaza. In a statement, it said: “Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption. Under this international outcry and pressure, the Israeli government is allowing a trickle more of aid to enter the Gaza Strip. It is far from what is needed to stop an impending famine. This is a genocide by starvation; many UN officials are denouncing.”

Also, more voices from inside Israel are being heard. Israeli-Palestinian human rights group B’Tselem recently released a report titled “Our Genocide,” in which it says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The report strongly condemned the war on Gaza, which has so far killed more than 60,000 people and wounded at least 145,000 others.

“An examination of Israel’s policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack, leads to the unequivocal conclusion that Israel is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” the report said. “In other words, Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparked the war, is far from defeated. It is holding as many as 20 hostages as bargaining chips in negotiations for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Several nations have called on Hamas to disarm and release the hostages.

Crimes worsening

The Israeli armed forces and private mercenaries are gunning down civilians as they rush to get insufficient food rations at the distribution areas, killing and wounding them as though these sites are shooting galleries — or Israel’s version of the killing fields.

These crimes of war and against humanity continue to get worse. There is little or no compassion or solidarity from developed nations for the over 2 million civilians in Gaza. There is talk, but no decisive action to stop the suffering. The only words that United States President Donald Trump said were for Israel to allow “every ounce of food” into Gaza, as he acknowledged for the first time that “real starvation” was occurring there.

Trump was reported as saying: “We can save a lot of people, I mean, some of those kids. That’s real starvation; I see it and you can’t fake that. So, we’re going to be even more involved.” But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied there was starvation, calling it a “bold-faced lie.”

Are Trump’s words empty or would he follow up on that by halting the supply of bombs and other weapons to Israel and compel the country to allow the supply and distribution of food by the UN to resume and stop its blockade? The European Union and other countries are weak in responding to the genocide in Gaza. They fear the US president and his tariffs if they openly oppose Israel.

What is needed is for governments, as well as ordinary people around the world, to boycott products made by and exported from Israel; and protest and block weapons and other goods flowing into that country. Trade between the EU and Israel is conducted based on an association agreement. In addition, relations between the two are framed in the European Neighborhood Policy, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean. These give Israel preferential treatment, or no or low import tax and restrictions. The EU could cancel these privileges if it has the moral and political strength to do so.

The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner. In 2013, the total volume of bilateral trade reached €27 billion. That year, 32 percent of Israeli exports went to the EU and 34 percent of imports came from the EU. Other countries have large trading deals with Israel. China has a 17.7-percent share of trade worth $14.7 billion; the US, a 12-percent share worth $8.45 billion; and Germany, a 6.28-percent share worth $5.22 billion.

Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country would recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London would also do the same. So will Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

As many as 147 member-states out of the UN’s 193 members recognize Palestine as a state. That is a staggering 75 percent of UN member-states that recognize Palestine but one completely occupied by Israel. Palestine has been a nonmember UN state since November 2012. This strengthens efforts for a two-state solution, which Netanyahu’s government strongly opposes. After a three-day UN conference on reviving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the said states would “reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders.” It stressed the “importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.”