WITH the death of 15 civilians in the Israeli bombardment in the UN-run schools in the Gaza Strip the death toll increased to more than nine hundreds in the third consecutive week of Israeli aggression in the earth’s largest open prison, and the death toll is mounting. Despite several urges from the world for truce and efforts to broker a ceasefire, the terrorist state Israel did not pay any heed to the crying, but is continuing violence unobstructed against civilians, including women, children, and men. It is nothing but a war crime that demands justice. Ignoring the people’s concerns from every corner of the world, the terrorist state is operating the killing-machine in the enclave to cleanse out the Gazans, in the guise of ousting militants.
Thursday’s air strike hit a UN school sheltering some of the 100,000 Palestinians driven from their homes in search of a safe place and also wounded more than 200 civilians. The air strike on the UN school brought protests in the West Bank, where Hamas-rival Fatah governs. “Gaza is not alone: We are part of the same struggle,” a youth of Ramallah expressed solidarity with Gaza.
Amid raging violence, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has said it was almost impossible for Palestinians to shelter from Israeli air strikes in the densely-populated territory, adding that one child has been killed every hour in the conflict for the past three days. The most recent shelling has caused damage to six UN-run schools, among 83 hosting at least 140,000 people. The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said more than 80 percent of the casualties so far have been civilians, and a quarter of them children. US Secretary of State John Kerry has reached out to Hamas allies Turkey and Qatar as he sought to further regional efforts to broker an end to the bloodshed, but Hamas has rejected the proposal so far, with its exiled leader Khaled Meshaal saying late Wednesday that there could be no halt to the fighting without an end to Israel’s eight-year blockade on Gaza first.
People in Gaza are resisting this aggression because they want a better and normal life and, even while crying in sorrow, pain, and terror, they reject a temporary truce that does not provide a real chance for a better future. A voice under the attacks in Gaza is that of Um Al Ramlawi who speaks for all in Gaza: “They are killing us all anyway – either a slow death by the siege, or a fast one by military attacks. We have nothing left to lose-we must fight for our rights, or die trying.”
The Western world is making a terrible mistake and human crisis by choosing the ruthless killer of civilians Netanyahu against the Muslim world. Netanyahu will not go unpunished for killing and humiliating the Muslims however much he is empowered militarily by America. It cannot be denied that small country Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries. Israel has no way to escape. Israel must learn to live in peace with Muslim countries.
American and the rest of the West must not remain complacent that the Muslim countries will not hesitate in resisting Israel as a common cause. Where Israel will be if Turkey, Iran and Egypt get together in the efforts to help the Palestinian Muslims?
