When Israeli airstrikes on aid workers delivering food in Gaza killed at least seven people from Western nationalities announced two days ago, suddenly the Western human conscience was awakened, and we heard a series of angry statements, and condemnations, for what happened.
All of this anger came out from leaders of countries which had taken a firm stance against the ceasefire process in Gaza aimed at stopping the bloodshed and acts of genocide the Palestinians have been exposed to for more than six months.
These stances against the ceasefire are still there, although the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s six-month war in Gaza has soared above 33,000 killed, with more than 75,600 wounded, women and children makeup two-thirds of the dead. The pretext is always Israel’s right to defend itself and eliminate Hamas. It is a policy of hypocrisy and double standards that have been practised for decades and has become part of the political doctrine of Western countries when it comes to the Arab and Islamic world wherever they are, and it is a policy fuelled by systematic Islamophobia.
The individuals were killed because they insisted on continuing their humanitarian work, and they were killed for their courageous stances, far from hypocrisy and political propaganda. They know better than others what the Palestinians are facing in Gaza, and therefore the target behind their killing is the Palestinians who are pushed to die of hunger if they are not killed by Israeli army bullets.
This latest Israeli military strike on aid workers has hit the humanitarian efforts in the besieged Palestinian territory. Upon this Israeli aggression, the charity was forced to immediately pause operations in the region, delivering a blow to the recently opened sea route for food aid. Ships carrying food sailed away from Gaza after arriving just a day earlier.
World Central Kitchen demanded an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed seven of its staff in Gaza, as Israel faces growing isolation over the deaths of six foreign aid workers and a Palestinian driver helping deliver desperately needed food to isolated and starving residents.
The United Nations says much of the population in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza, a charge Israel strongly denies, and the UN Security Council has issued a legally binding demand for a cease-fire.
Unless the war on Gaza ends and the international community takes a clear stance to end the ongoing genocide, this will not be the last attack on anyone who adheres to humanitarian principles and seeks only to save the children and women in Gaza.
