A crisis. A horror. A tragedy. So many words that we have heard repeatedly to describe the situation in Gaza. All of this is unfortunately insufficient.
As a Palestinian, I can assure you that if there is one thing Palestinians do not lack, it is words. You may even remember that in the first weeks of this war, the children of Gaza held their own press conference imploring the world “to protect them” so that they could “live like other children live.”
But the scale of violence in Gaza since the attacks on Israel on October 7, which killed an estimated 1,139 people, is unlike anything we have experienced before. Israeli forces have killed an average of 250 Palestinians per day, surpassing the daily toll in all other conflicts in recent decades.
More than a million people have been displaced to Rafah, the only remaining place in Gaza where there is any semblance of a meaningful humanitarian response, awaiting the next military operation that could lead to bloodshed.
And there we are, words are starting to fail us. Many today say that there simply are no words to accurately describe the torment we face. I do not agree.
There are still words that we can and must rely on, words that anchor us in our collective humanity. The language of human rights, international law and accountability. Words like obligations, violations, atrocity crimes. The laws of occupation. And the laws of war.
I emphasize these words because they are the right words to use, but also because they contradict other words that have emerged, such as the language of dehumanization, which paves the way for the commission of atrocity crimes .
In June 2023, I attended my brother’s wedding in the occupied West Bank village where we grew up. If only for a brief moment, we were able to forget the occupation we live under and the daily abuses that result from it.
This moment of joy was quickly crushed when, a few days later, hundreds of armed settlers entered our village, bombing houses and cars and attacking my family, friends and neighbors, in the 10th attack on the village in just six months.
A 27-year-old man, father of two young children, was murdered. Many other people were shot and injured. To our knowledge, no settler has been held responsible.
The attacks on my village were part of a trend of increasing insecurity for Palestinians, with more frequent and violent attacks carried out by settlers and Israeli forces throughout the occupied West Bank. In September, a Save the Children report revealed that 2023 had become the deadliest year on record for Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank. The number of children killed in the first nine months of the year was three times that of 2022, which was previously the deadliest year on record since 2005. And then came October 7, leading to unprecedented levels of dehumanization and violence.
It is horrifying that at least four of the six grave violations against children have been committed since the start of the war, including children killed in Gaza and Israel, the kidnapping of children from Israel to Gaza, attacks on hospitals and schools across Gaza and the denial of humanitarian aid. access for children in Gaza.
At least 29,000 people are believed to have been killed and 69,000 injured in Gaza while around 8,000 people are missing, presumed buried under the rubble of bombed buildings, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Some of the most inhumane actions carried out by Israeli forces include directing Palestinian civilians to “safe zones”, then bombing these areas, and preventing food, water and medicine from reaching civilians, while even as humanitarian agencies warn that almost all children in Gaza are at imminent risk of starvation.
These extreme levels of violence are undoubtedly in part a consequence of the increasing dehumanization of Palestinians. Senior Israeli government officials have called Palestinians “human animals,” some journalists have called for turning Gaza “into a slaughterhouse,” and some Israeli soldiers have been shown wearing T-shirts depicting pregnant Palestinian women and babies as military targets.
Indiscriminate attacks against civilians, forced displacement, the use of collective punishment and starvation as a weapon of war are all violations of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes.
Videos were broadcast around the world showing Israeli bulldozers digging up Palestinian cemeteries, lifeless bodies of Palestinians crushed by military vehicles, and young Palestinian boys blindfolded and undressed in the streets.
It terrifies me that many world leaders who claim to be champions of human rights and a rules-based order have seen these same videos and failed to condemn them. In contrast, there was global condemnation when videos surfaced of some of the more than 130 hostages still held in Gaza after being captured in Israel on October 7.
Just as in so many other places before, our failure to prevent atrocities in Gaza amounts to a mockery of “never again.”
With everything we now know, I wonder if world leaders will finally use their positions of power and influence to stop this bloodshed or if they will simply continue to issue “statements of concern” » and close your eyes.
This war should never have started, but it has certainly gone on for far too long. Every day, more and more children will be killed, mutilated, orphaned and deeply traumatized.
But even as politics continues to harm humanity, the rule of law can still be upheld. In the weeks, months and years to come, the judgments handed down will have the potential to redefine the course of society, leading to a fairer and safer world.
We have a duty to all children, including those in the occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and all of Israel, to demand an end to violence, respect for international law and to seek accountability to those who violate it.
They deserve nothing less.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.