Gaza’s descent into the chasm of suffering and death has plunged past another dreadful mark, with more than 30,000 Palestinians now said to have been killed since the war started almost five months ago.
Two-thirds of the dead are women and children. The toll is likely to be much higher, given the number of bodies likely buried in the rubble and dust of Israel’s invasion. Another 70,000 have been wounded, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
These are sickening figures, but mere numbers cannot begin to convey the scale of a horror that has become as inescapable as it is indescribable.
It is estimated that 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have had to flee their homes in response to Israel’s invasion. That followed the appalling October 7 attacks by Hamas which left 1,200 dead and around 250 people taken as hostage.
Israel says it wants to annihilate Hamas and its militants, but it is also inflicting untold punishment and persecution on helpless civilians.
The latest atrocity involved Israeli troops firing on a crowd in Gaza City. People were queuing for aid from the first convoy to reach the area in a month.
The US has supplied weapons being used against the Palestinian people, yet it is also talking about airdropping aid into Gaza. It is taking President Biden too long to do the right thing about Israel’s invasion
Witnesses reported that they were shot at as supplies were unloaded from the trucks. After the shooting stopped and people returned to the trucks, the soldiers opened fire again. At least 112 people were killed and around 760 wounded.
Because there weren’t enough ambulances, donkey carts had to be used to ferry the injured to hospital. There, only the most urgent surgery can be performed because fuel to power its generators is so scarce.
US President Joe Biden says the massacre will further complicate the negotiations around a ceasefire and hostage release, which are being mediated by Egypt and Qatar. That might be the case, but it must also be the case that finding an end to the violence has never been more urgent.
America’s role is particularly perverse. As Israel’s staunchest ally it has supplied many of the weapons being used against the Palestinian people, yet it is also talking about airdropping aid into Gaza because the humanitarian situation is so dire. It is taking President Biden and the US too long to do the right thing over Gaza.
There is a knock-on effect on our own politics too, with Sinn Féin in particular coming under pressure for its willingness to go to wine and cheese parties in Washington around St Patrick’s Day while denouncing others for not, in its few, condemning Israel firmly enough.
Meanwhile life drains out of Gaza, where a pulverized and terrified population finds itself caught between starvation and sickness, bombardment and death. Again, we ask: who will stop the slaughter?
