A catastrophe of unimaginable proportion is underway in the besieged Gaza enclave where the Israeli military is unleashing an unceasing volley of airstrikes against Palestinians. Entire residential areas in the densely populated enclave, which include high-rise towers, hospitals, schools, mosques and churches have been flattened by Israeli warplanes.
In the last three weeks, more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than half women and children, while at least half of the population have been displaced. The figures are already surpassing the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia considered to be among the worst form of killings in modern times.
The Israel attacks are a response to an unprecedented daring operation by Palestinian militant group Hamas whose fighters breached Israeli defences leaving more than 1,300 Israelis dead.
With a population of 2.5 million people squeezed in a narrow 25 miles coastal strip, Gaza has been described as the biggest open air prison in the world. For more than 16 years, it has faced a crippling land, air and sea blockade imposed by Israel which has impoverished the enclave making it among the worst places to live on earth.
In the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu buoyed by the US President Joe Biden's unwavering support, pledged to decimate Gaza and turn it into “a deserted island.”
As part of its collective punishment policies, Israel cut off water, food, fuel and electricity supply to Gaza, a move which has further compounded the humanitarian situation.
For more than 70 years, Gaza along with other Palestinian territories has been reeling under a brutal Israeli occupation, which is the source of the bitter Israeli-Arab conflict. For more than half a century, Palestinians have been living a life of subjugation and oppression.
Despite their relentlessly plea to the international community for justice and freedom, Palestinians' cry remain ignored and they have been left to live at the mercy of Israel which has consistently expropriated their lands and denied them their right to statehood.
In the occupied West Bank, near daily incursions by Israeli troops have resulted in the loss of lives of hundreds of Palestinians. More so, the continued illegal incursions by Israeli troops into the third Islamic holy shrine al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem have also heightened tensions.
In addition, the present Israel far-right government dominated by factions that oppose peace with Palestinians has been conducting a de-facto annexation of Palestinian territories and encouraged brutal settler violence against residents of occupied West Bank.
This was the context of the Hamas attack. It is human nature that when you push a people into a corner, they will respond with whatever means they have at their disposal. And it is this context which the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gueterres spoke about when he said that the attack against Israel “did not happen in a vacuum.”
Most of the population of Gaza are descendants of refugees forced out of their homes in what is now Israel after the 1948 mass expulsion and displacement of Palestinians-the Nakba, which led to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
The cries for justice and an end to the occupation have regrettably been met with mute response from the international community, which has chosen to overlook and support Israeli crimes. With active support from the US which provides Israel with US $3 billion in military aid, Israel has relentlessly contravened over 30UN resolutions, the most notable of which is to end its occupations of Palestinian lands.
The paradox is that while the US and European countries have condemned the Russian attack and occupation of Ukraine and went on to provide it with billions of dollars in military support, a blank cheque have been given to Israel to entrench its occupation and oppression of Palestinians.
What is not being acknowledged is the root cause of this conflict-occupation of the lands of Palestinians who for more than 70 years have been suffering under a brutal life of occupation and forced displacement, which has seen more than 10 million Palestinians living as refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and the diaspora.
Palestinians' resistance mirrors that of the Mau Mau liberation movement who were branded as terrorists and mercilessly killed by the British colonialists for resisting the expropriation of their land. Like the Mau Mau, who endured oppression in concentration camps for fighting for freedom, the people of Gaza are enduring a life under the shadow of bombs for resisting occupation.
Israel, with its military might, could decimate Gaza but this will not kill the Palestinian cause and their struggle to secure an independent state, where they will live in freedom and dignity. Only a just solution to the Palestinian cause will usher in peace in the region, not the Israel's relentless bombings.
The author is a member of the Jamia Mosque Committee, Nairobi
