Julia
Conley
As
millions prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States on Wednesday,
human rights advocates provided dispatches from nearly 6,000 miles away in
Gaza, where the Biden administration has continued to provide political and
military support for Israel's onslaught despite public disapproval for the war
among Americans.
Injured Palestinians, including children,
are brought to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital for medical treatment after
an Israeli attack on Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the northern part of
the Gaza on November 25, 2024. (Photo: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Palestinians
in Gaza are now facing their second winter amid Israel's bombardment and
near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, which began in October 2023.
The
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement that Israel's blocking of
deliveries including blankets, shoes, and clothing has left Gaza's 2.3
million—nearly half of whom are children—vulnerable to the elements, especially
since at least 70% of homes in the enclave have been destroyed in the last 13
months.
"Euro-Med
Monitor notes that Israel restricts the entry of such items as part of its
efforts to impose harsh living conditions on the Palestinian people that will
ultimately lead to their actual destruction, as part of the comprehensive crime
of genocide it is committing in the Gaza Strip," said the group.
"There is no military necessity or justification under international law
that permits the prevention of basic necessities from reaching a civilian
population."
At
least 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, and as Euro-Med
Monitor said, "the vast majority of displaced people in the Gaza Strip
continue to live in tents that do not provide adequate protection from the cold
and rain."
Hundreds
of thousands of people, including women, children, and elderly people, have
been left without appropriate clothing for harsh weather—and at greater risk of
contracting respiratory infections and other illnesses, which health
authorities in the enclave are poorly equipped to treat due to Israel's
blockade.
A
woman named Ruba told the humanitarian group Save the Children that in northern
Gaza, where Israel began an offensive in early October, she has been
"trapped with [her] children under relentless bombs, rockets, and bullets,
with nowhere to run."
"My
mother is paralyzed, and I cannot leave her behind. My brother has been killed,
my husband was taken, and I don't know if he's alive. Our home was destroyed
over our heads, and we survived by a miracle," Ruba said.
"With
no food, no clean water, and constant fear, both my children have developed
rashes, and my daughter is passing blood, but there is no medicine, no help,
and absolutely nothing I can do," she continued. "They cry and ask me
why we can't just leave, why their father isn't with us, why we can't go back
to a normal life.”
Humanitarian
workers with the group have observed children barefoot in streets littered with
sewage and debris from Israeli attacks, sometimes walking "in the rain
while wearing only light, shabby clothing."
"Children
who lack shoes are more likely to sustain wounds and injuries, leaving them
susceptible to infection in an environment devoid of medical supplies and
medications because of the strict blockade," said Euro-Med Monitor.
"Israel's
continuous and severe deprivation of the fundamental necessities of life is an
act of genocide, as it seeks to strip the Palestinian population of the most
basic means of protection, with the aim of physically erasing their existence,"
said the group. "Children and other vulnerable groups are specifically
targeted by Israel as they are more affected by this deprivation, which
exacerbates their suffering and raises the death rates among them; due to the
lack of refuge from winter weather, these rates will undoubtedly spike without
international intervention."
The
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA) warned Wednesday that severe food shortages are also set to worsen
without immediate international intervention and a cease-fire.
The
groups' warnings come two weeks after the passing of a U.S.-imposed deadline
for Israel to significantly ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. The
Biden administration in October ordered Israel to allow at least 350 aid trucks
into Gaza per day, or else it would invoke U.S. laws that prohibit the
government from providing military aid to countries that block U.S.
humanitarian relief.
But
even as experts said Israel was continuing its blockade and failing to meet the
Biden administration's terms, the U.S. took no action to end its support for
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces.
"The
war in Gaza is a war on children," said Jeremy Stoner, regional director
of Save the Children. "There is no plainer way to illustrate this than to
look at the people who make up the death figures—over 4 in every 10 people
verified killed in Gaza are children."
"Safe
humanitarian access must be granted immediately to allow food, water, winter
supplies, and medical assistance to reach those who are trapped in the death
zone in the north," added Stoner. "The international community must
step up and make sure that happens, in line with their obligations. Without
access and a cease-fire, we are condemning children to perish in hell on
Earth."
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