Sir, – It has been two long, harrowing months since Israel reinstated a total siege on Gaza, blocking the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid and commercial goods into a region already devastated by war.
This marks the longest period Israel has blocked all aid and goods from entering Gaza. With community kitchens – one of the last remaining lifelines in Gaza – now threatened with closure, the world is witnessing a man-made famine unfolding in real time.
Desperation has reached unspeakable levels. Mothers are boiling grass to feed their families. Children are suffering unbearable hunger, trauma, violence and abandonment. Gaza’s hospitals, already crippled, are close to collapse, unable to function without essential medicines, vaccines and equipment. Women, girls and other vulnerable groups face escalating risks of gender-based violence.
Stocks in aid warehouses are nearly gone. Palestinian organisations continue to seek to supply desperate communities through local markets, but they are facing eye-watering prices.
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Yet world leaders are distracted, it seems, while the ethnic cleansing and likely genocide of Palestinians rages on. As the UN secretary general António Guterres put it: “Gaza is a killing field, and its civilians are in an endless death loop.” The weaponisation of aid, including withholding food, water, healthcare and shelter, has led to a surge in preventable deaths and threatens the dignity and survival of Palestinians in Gaza.
This is a preventable atrocity. And it does nothing to address the horror of the remaining hostages and their families.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have intensified military operations in the occupied West Bank, severely disrupting humanitarian aid delivery there. This includes demolishing Palestinian homes, forcibly displacing approximately 40,000 people, and destroying critical infrastructure.
World leaders must demand an immediate end to the blockade, and tough action must be taken against Israel and its shredding of international law. This brutal, illegal and devastating occupation of Palestinian territory and its people must end.
The Irish Government must also play its part and honour its pre-election pledge to introduce the Occupied Territories Bill. This would show true leadership on one of the most devastating issues of our time.
This is a moment of moral reckoning. – Yours, etc,
KAROL BALFE,
Chief executive, ActionAid Ireland,
Dublin 1.
