Gaza Endures As Israel Bombs Relentlessly

Israel has bombed Gaza every night since August 6, in the middle of a global pandemic.

Gaza has endured nightly attacks from Israel for two straight weeks. Photo: SNc source

(SALEM, Ore.) - For the last 14 nights while the world slept, Israeli fighter jets have besieged the entrapped Palestinian land known as the Gaza Strip. Two million Palestinians in Gaza live in this open air prison, blockaded by Israel and Egypt.

Since the beginning of August, a number of helium-type balloons have been released from the Gaza side of the Jewish separation wall carrying incendiary devices.

According to The Times of Israel, on Sunday alone, 28 fires started that they credit to “unrelenting arson attacks from the Strip” via balloons.

Rockets/projectiles have also been fired from Gaza at Israeli cities and towns without report of any injuries or damage. Fire and Rescue Services in Israel said most of the fires were relatively small and did not represent a threat to nearby communities.

In response, Israel has closed the Kerem Shalom Commercial Crossing with the exception of humanitarian equipment, and stopped the import of vehicles through the Erez Crossing. They have also leveled a ban on all Palestinian fishermen from fishing in the sea at all.

Israel says these closure efforts have been taken to pressure Hamas to crack down on the balloon launchers. This “pressure” was given no opportunity to have effect as Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip almost immediately.

Though the balloon fires were easily put out, they ignited retaliatory attacks from Israel that haven’t yet ended.

Every day, Israel threatens to bomb Gaza. Every night, they follow through, bombing family homes and work places, schools and hospitals, in the name of “peace”.

Israeli warplanes, tanks and drones attack what they determine to be Hamas targets as if violence is their only means to an end. It is a choice.

Collective Punishment of a Population

Last night, Israeli jets attacked the eastern side of Gaza, striking several areas, killing 4 Palestinian men & seriously injuring at least one other. The Israeli media groups claim that these four men were “building bombs” when they were killed by fighter jets. Their families disagree.

Daily bombing and prolonged blackouts is a violation of their humanitarian rights.

“Electricity and fuel to generate it are not luxury items for people in Gaza - it is as important to modern life in Gaza as it is in Tel Aviv, Houston or London. Cutting fuel needed to run the power plant is a crime against humanity,” wrote Denny Cormier, advocate for Palestine.

Author George Bisharat asserts that the blockade violates international law:

Under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: "No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism . . . against protected persons and their property are prohibited." This article prohibits the use of collective punishment of protected persons, the breach of which constitutes war crimes. "Protected persons" are civilian individuals who find themselves, in case of an armed conflict or occupation, in the hands of a power of which they are not nationals.

What was once a Middle Eastern paradise is being blown to bits, and the citizens living there are watching it fall around them.

Oppressed People Fighting Coronavirus Without Means

“I hope to live in a country, your country, in order to live in safety,” a Gaza citizen told me.

“I'm not well, I feel anxious because things have started to be very difficult.”

If the ceaseless bombings aren’t enough to cause never-ending PTSD in all the peoples of Gaza, now the Coronavirus has made its way to the inner walls of the Gaza Strip.

Monday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced 4 cases of Coronavirus, in Gaza City. They are wholly incapable of fighting this disease, and are rightfully frightened of a potentially devastating outbreak in the impoverished Palestinian territory.

Due to the virus, as of yesterday, Hamas called for a 48-hour curfew in the Gaza Strip, closing businesses, schools, mosques and eating establishments.

“Gaza does not have the capabilities to confront Corona. We do not have medicine, we do not have electricity, and we do not have water to bathe,” he added.

Remember, there is a blockade in place, they have little or no access to most products, including medicine, soap and cleaning supplies. All of Gaza is walled in. Citizens are unable to come and go, even for medical purposes, without explicit permission of the Israeli government.

This has been going on for 13 years, restricting much of what any normal community would need to live comfortably and with dignity.

“These restrictions continue to reduce access to livelihoods, essential services and housing, disrupt family life, and undermine people’s hopes for a secure and prosperous future,” stated The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Here’s why there is a blockade:

After Hamas was voted into power in 2006, Israel and the Quartet of the Middle East made certain conditions to maintain Gaza’s economic assistance: Recognition of Israel, Disavowal of violent actions, and Acceptance of previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas refused to agree to these conditions.

Israel’s response was the blockade. In September 2007, Gaza was suddenly deprived of electricity, fuel and other supplies. Israel said the blockade was to pressure Hamas to stop rocket attacks, of which there were several, and end their supplies for making rockets.

“To reiterate: Israel instituted the blockade against the Gaza Strip not in response to a violent attack, but rather in response to Hamas's ascension to exclusive authority in the Gaza Strip, and earlier in response to the Hamas victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections,” wrote George Bisharat, author Israel's Invasion of Gaza in International Law.

Since then, Gaza's manufacturing sector has shrank 60 percent and their exports have virtually disappeared. In May 2015, the World Bank reported that the Gaza economy was on the “verge of collapse”; saying “The economy cannot survive without being connected to the outside world.”

Chemical Warfare or Bad Luck

A grocery store owner was one of the first four cases. Reportedly, he and his wife had a sick child who needed to travel to the West Bank for a simple operation.

The wife was allowed to travel to Jerusalem for the medical procedure. She went, and gave her papers and identification to the officials. When the paperwork was returned to her, they told her that she was wrong and her travel time was not that day, it was the next, and instructed her to return to Gaza.

Once back in Gaza, she tested positive for COVID-19. Health workers in Gaza then tested her family members, revealing the four cases. A full lockdown was imposed on the al-Maghazi refugee camp, where the family lives.

Investigations are underway to trace the source of the infection. Some speculate that Israel concealed the virus inside the paperwork they returned to the woman. The grocer’s wife then took the papers back to Gaza, and touched her husband and the virus spread.

How it came to Gaza is important, but the Coronavirus is incredibly easy to spread, so determining the exact trail of infection is nearly impossible in most cases. Energy must be spent on solving the problem that exists: saving lives.

What they need now is what all other countries need during a pandemic: HELP. Testing clinics have been bombed or bulldozed, hospitals have been tear gassed, they are under curfew, and now the gates to the outside world are closed.

Two million people are asking to be heard. Once we are aware of systemic discrimination, injustice, imprisonment, inhumanity, and even deaths, the world must take a stand.

To do nothing is silent complicity.

Sources include: John Pike. "Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement)"; George Bisharat. "Israel's Invasion of Gaza in International Law"; others.