Sir, – A ceasefire has been declared, but Israeli leaders have not signalled that they will make any changes to the grim conditions that led inevitably to 11 days of carnage.
The UN long predicted that the Gaza Strip would be “unliveable” by 2020. That year has come and gone, and the enclave remains under a cruel 14-year blockade, and an ongoing collective punishment of the Gazan population for their democratic choice.
Gaza’s 1.8 million population have still only received a mere 35,000 vaccine doses. Their healthcare system, previously teetering, has now been devastated, with the main roads leading to hospitals cratered by Israeli airstrikes.
The discriminatory and appropriative laws instrumentalised by Israeli settler organisations to drive the Sheikh Jarrah expulsions remain on the statute books.
A respite to the slaughter is a welcome relief, but this unconditional ceasefire returns the region to the grim status quo that Israeli leaders euphemistically call “quiet”, but which leading human rights organisations B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch rightly call out as apartheid.
Without justice, there can be no lasting peace. – Yours, etc,
FATIN AL TAMIMI,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.