The Gaza ceasefire is holding. Just. But Israel’s war against Gazans continues by other means, a siege that not only defies the spirit of a supposed cessation of hostilities, but also relies heavily on means specifically prohibited by internationally agreed rules of war.
Since the start of March, Israel has blocked aid deliveries to Gaza including food and fuel to pressurise Hamas over hostages. Last week it severely reduced electricity supplies, also hitting water treatment. And it has threatened to cut off all water supplies unless Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
These are acts of collective punishment against the civilian population, characterised in November by the International Criminal Court in its arrest warrants for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as crimes against humanity and war crimes and the use of “starvation as a method of warfare”. In the seven weeks of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has also massively intensified its deadly attacks on Palestinian communities in the West Bank, forcing some 40,000 from their homes.
On Thursday, a UN human rights committee accused Israel of targeting hospitals and other health facilities in Gaza that provide reproductive services, including an IVF clinic where thousands of embryos were destroyed, in what it called an effort to prevent Palestinian births.
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The second talks round of the ceasefire process was to begin two weeks ago, during which the parties were supposed to agree a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. But Israel is now demanding that Hamas release half the remaining hostages on day one, rather than in a sequenced manner.
Hamas is believed to still hold 24 living hostages in Gaza and the remains of 35 others. Despite pressure from mediators Qatar and Egypt and the US, it is thought unlikely to give up many ahead of an agreement providing for a long-term settlement. It sees them as its bargaining chips in talks tentatively beginning in Qatar.
This illegal abuse of civilians by both sides must stop..
