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Starvation As A Weapon Of War In Gaza
3 months ago
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7.....ael_siege_gaza
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/24/oxfam
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.o.....ds-across-gaza
The ceasefire talks were called off today by the US and Israel once again for the usual reasons: Israel won't agree to permanently end their war on Gaza or agree to permanently pull out, Of course they blame Hamas for "Not acting in good faith". Hamas has been extremely consistent in their demands. It's Israel who keeps moving the goalposts.
Israel also voted today to annex the West Bank.
In a gratuitous act of cruelty, Israel recently forbade anyone in Gaza from going into the ocean under the threat of being shot:
http://www.npr.org/2025/07/24/nx-s1.....access-in-gaza
The official number of dead in Gaza is now nearing 60,000, but that only counts those who've been taken to a hospital, had their identities confirmed, and been matched with the list of the population. The real number of dead as a result of Israel's genocide is of course far higher. I'd guess that 200,000 is a conservative number, and Ralph Nader puts it at over 500,000.
The number of people murdered by the Israelis trying to get food is now over 1000. Over 100 were killed two days ago trying to get flour from a truck in Northern Gaza. As always, Israel says that they were "Just shooting over their heads". -They sure must have crappy aim. They seem to be making a game of this. One day it's head shots, the next shots to the chest, the next shots to the balls.
Tent camps are being targeted with rockets.
People, particularly infants and kids, are now dying of hunger and thirst in increasing numbers every day. Doctors are literally having baby formula taken away from them when entering Gaza, so no one can say that Israel isn't purposefully starving babies.
Fuel is running out, shuttung down pumps for water wells and sewage, as well as shutting down desalinization plants, and making it impossible to run critical equipment in what remains of Gaza hospitals.
People are passing out from hunger in the streets. Doctors are passing out during operations.
Imagine that you're a kid growing up in Gaza today. Seeing dead bodies is not uncommon. You may even see them being eaten by dogs. You're surrounded by the constant stench of death and sewage, and the constant buzz of quadcopter drones, which you know are always watching you, and could shoot you any time.
You feel constant hunger and thirst. Your growth is being stunted, and you may suffer from permanent learning disabilities and brain damage, should you survive. If you are wounded, you won't be able to heal You're susceptible to all kinds of disease, and since you're so malnouished, you're far more likely to die from it. You and everyone around you are permanently traumatized.
Meanwhile, there seems to finally be some momentum building in the West to call for an end to the GHF and the allowing for UNRWA to immediately be able to feed the people of Gaza, and more and more people around the world are calling for ending the arming of Israel and enforcement of International and domestic laws against humanitarian and war crimes and genocide, and calling for sanctions on them. Emmanual Macron has said that France will recognize Palestine beginning in September. DAWN, which was begun by Jamal Khashoggi, has called for the UN to establish an international protective force in Gaza and immediate access to food.
But it's long past time for pretty words. We need immediate action to end this brutal genocide.
*Update of 7/26:
There are now plans to airdrop food into Gaza. This is ridiculous. Why not just start letting trucks in? There are thousands of them just waiting to be let in, and they would never amount to more than a drop in the bucket. It's purely performative, just like the failed floating pier was. Some may remember what happened last time they tried that. People were killed by the falling pallets of food, and were drowned when they landed in the ocean. You may also imagine the mayhem that will inevitably ensue when a pallet of food is dropped into a place filled with desperate and starving people who have been driven to fight each other for food.
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/24/oxfam
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.o.....ds-across-gaza
The ceasefire talks were called off today by the US and Israel once again for the usual reasons: Israel won't agree to permanently end their war on Gaza or agree to permanently pull out, Of course they blame Hamas for "Not acting in good faith". Hamas has been extremely consistent in their demands. It's Israel who keeps moving the goalposts.
Israel also voted today to annex the West Bank.
In a gratuitous act of cruelty, Israel recently forbade anyone in Gaza from going into the ocean under the threat of being shot:
http://www.npr.org/2025/07/24/nx-s1.....access-in-gaza
The official number of dead in Gaza is now nearing 60,000, but that only counts those who've been taken to a hospital, had their identities confirmed, and been matched with the list of the population. The real number of dead as a result of Israel's genocide is of course far higher. I'd guess that 200,000 is a conservative number, and Ralph Nader puts it at over 500,000.
The number of people murdered by the Israelis trying to get food is now over 1000. Over 100 were killed two days ago trying to get flour from a truck in Northern Gaza. As always, Israel says that they were "Just shooting over their heads". -They sure must have crappy aim. They seem to be making a game of this. One day it's head shots, the next shots to the chest, the next shots to the balls.
Tent camps are being targeted with rockets.
People, particularly infants and kids, are now dying of hunger and thirst in increasing numbers every day. Doctors are literally having baby formula taken away from them when entering Gaza, so no one can say that Israel isn't purposefully starving babies.
Fuel is running out, shuttung down pumps for water wells and sewage, as well as shutting down desalinization plants, and making it impossible to run critical equipment in what remains of Gaza hospitals.
People are passing out from hunger in the streets. Doctors are passing out during operations.
Imagine that you're a kid growing up in Gaza today. Seeing dead bodies is not uncommon. You may even see them being eaten by dogs. You're surrounded by the constant stench of death and sewage, and the constant buzz of quadcopter drones, which you know are always watching you, and could shoot you any time.
You feel constant hunger and thirst. Your growth is being stunted, and you may suffer from permanent learning disabilities and brain damage, should you survive. If you are wounded, you won't be able to heal You're susceptible to all kinds of disease, and since you're so malnouished, you're far more likely to die from it. You and everyone around you are permanently traumatized.
Meanwhile, there seems to finally be some momentum building in the West to call for an end to the GHF and the allowing for UNRWA to immediately be able to feed the people of Gaza, and more and more people around the world are calling for ending the arming of Israel and enforcement of International and domestic laws against humanitarian and war crimes and genocide, and calling for sanctions on them. Emmanual Macron has said that France will recognize Palestine beginning in September. DAWN, which was begun by Jamal Khashoggi, has called for the UN to establish an international protective force in Gaza and immediate access to food.
But it's long past time for pretty words. We need immediate action to end this brutal genocide.
*Update of 7/26:
There are now plans to airdrop food into Gaza. This is ridiculous. Why not just start letting trucks in? There are thousands of them just waiting to be let in, and they would never amount to more than a drop in the bucket. It's purely performative, just like the failed floating pier was. Some may remember what happened last time they tried that. People were killed by the falling pallets of food, and were drowned when they landed in the ocean. You may also imagine the mayhem that will inevitably ensue when a pallet of food is dropped into a place filled with desperate and starving people who have been driven to fight each other for food.
Mandy Patinkin and his wife said it best. This will not turn out well in the long run.
True to my name all I can see is the Evangelical Christian dreams of the End Times coming from this. They intend to deport all Hispanics "back" to where they came from (or CECOT, whichever is more convenient). The Jews are next. They'll "send them back" to Israel so that Jesus comes back, then think "he hasn't returned yet, let's make it happen" and nukes will fall.
The false dichotomy of having to support either the Jewish community or the Palestinians
is very articulately dismantled here.
have suffered, but the Nazis were also exterminating the Roma, the Slavs,
the Communists, the queer people, the people with disabilities –
everyone who was different, vulnerable, marginalized,
perceived to be "superfluous", "inferior", "useless", "degenerate".
And the political groups who fully endorse this attitude of cleansing
the perceived "healthy" society of everything that doesn't belong
are still very much alive and active throughout the world.
The wiser members of the Jewish community
recognize that the struggle of the Palestinians in Gaza
is the same as the struggle of their grandparents
in the Warsaw ghetto.
bound with their broader context! Taken individually, even the worst headlines
about the disaster in Gaza can feel like a series of tragic excessive accidents,
but following the terrible developments in the region consistently for any amount of time
is quick to reveal the pattern of people being driven, concentrated, tortured and primed
for either mass relocation, or cultural erasure, not to mention the undeniable
catastrophic casualties that, as you note, have already traumatized generations.
It is excruciating to watch the glacial pace at which the international community
stages a pushback to these atrocities, and to witness the daily strife
of the people directly suffering is heartrending. That warning
against accessing the sea sounds like pure vicious cruelty,
although it's nothing new at this point.
Was it really a countermeasure
aimed specifically at the Freedom Flotilla?
So senseless and petty.
Past time for words, like you said, but it's all we've got, in many cases.
Thank you for fighting with what you've got!
The previous ship was hit by drones and almost sank. This ship has already had some rather suspicious incidents happen. Huwaida Arraf, one of the people aboard said
"The first of those was a rope that was tightly wound around the propeller of the ship. And while that sometimes happens, the way this rope was wound and attached to chains that sunk in the sea was quite unusual.
The second was as we ordered a water truck so that we can fill the tanks of the ship, the water tanks, with water that we could use throughout the journey. It is seven, eight days before we reach from Gallipoli to Gaza. And instead of water, the truck brought sulfuric acid. And luckily, we had not connected the hose to the boat. But our crew had smelled something, and when they turned on — they turned on the faucet, they were splashed and burned. That could have been catastrophic."
just enough to be aware of their general intent, and of that one instance of detention,
but not about these attempts at possibly lethal sabotage. It's so disgusting,
especially considering the project is largely symbolic, and the cargo
of those whips could only help a few families at best,
but I guess it is the symbolic and reputational aspect
that the Israeli administration is obsessed with the most.
Netanyahu's regime's attitude towards the humanitarian air has firmly proven
that the Hamas militants aren't the sole targets, and tormenting
and controlling the civilians is a massive part of the entire invasion.
But this was always Israel's plan for the Palestinians. They've just used Oct 7th as an excuse to speed it up.
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11182793/
I posted a link to this journal, but apparently he's afraid to address what I've said here.
is clearly well-set in his hyperdefensive position,
it is still sad that the conversation was almost civil
at the beginning, gradually devolving into an indulgent cockfight.
Proponents of harmful ideologies need to be opposed, I understand,
and there's no place for civility politics when lives are on the line,
but I still wish for a world where disagreements could be debated
with more restraint. Not blaming you, just sighing at the general state of things.
I think I was rather restrained, considering his obvious attempts to get a rise out of me.
I've dealt with this guy repeatedly before, and he just keeps upping the level of his hate and vituperation towards me.
with the undeserved smug confidence of a sophomore who's just finished reading his first book
on political science, especially if it's someone who posits themselves as a reasonable and decent human being,
while also defending mass slaughter with a shrug and a chuckle elsewhere, and insisting
someone has dementia with no medical evidence whatsoever, and no trace of compassion, either.
but I'm not sure it's worth it in the end. I assume you're only engaging
in such exchanges while you have the energy and resolve to do this,
but that person is clearly adamant in their vision,
including the false assumption that you are hostile
to the Jewish people for being Jewish people.
Every issue that involves assessing the motives of someone,
your opponent will assume the worst in the Palestinians,
and the most noble and reasonable in the IDF,
and every inconvenient hard fact will be dismissed.
I think talking to the people who haven't made up their minds directly
is far, far more helpful and effective. But if you see it necessary,
I wish you luck in making the onlookers see your arguments.
I just find such confrontations depressing and wasteful, personally.