Gaza: a human tragedy and unprecedented destruction
Since October 7, Gaza City has been the scene of a veritable apocalypse. Residents, trapped in this nightmare, live in constant fear of Israeli bombings. The images of destruction and violence emerging from this Palestinian enclave, the only one of its kind, recall the worst hours in history. Israel claims to be carrying out a military operation to destroy Hamas’ tunnel network, but it goes well beyond that. More than 25,000 tons of bombs were dropped on this thin coastal strip, transforming Gaza City into a field of ruins.
According to Al Jazeera, around a third of the 220,000 damaged residences, including 40,000 destroyed, are in this densely populated conurbation of two million inhabitants. The Israeli military claims to use smart bombs to preserve civilian lives, but evidence shows that these attacks also target civilian facilities such as hospitals, schools, water infrastructure and mosques. This raises questions about the real motivations for this operation beyond the destruction of Hamas.
The justification for military use of hospitals in defiance of the Geneva Conventions is a very thin excuse. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Al-Shifa Hospital was a Hamas command center, but the evidence to support this is weak. It is unacceptable to destroy a hospital, storm it and occupy sections of it for 10 days, depriving doctors of their means of communication and arresting patients. The United Nations has already reported 219 cases of violence against hospitals by Israeli armed forces in Gaza, as well as 10 cases in Israel.
Hamas’ human losses are also not significant. Despite the initial estimate of 30,000 fighters in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the group lost only a few of its leaders. It is therefore reasonable to ask whether this war has any other objective than revenge and the restoration of the image of the Israeli army. Some analysts suggest that one of the main aims is to provoke a mass exodus of the Palestinian population from Gaza by creating a climate of terror and destroying vital infrastructure.
This desperate situation has pushed hundreds of thousands of people to seek shelter wherever they can, constantly fleeing from one place to another without finding any respite. Images of desperate refugees fleeing from one area to another have become common on social media. The inhabitants of Gaza are suffering a real ordeal, victims of collective helplessness in the face of much more powerful forces.
It’s hard not to see some irony in this dire situation. While the prophet Jeremiah mourned the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, today we witness a similar tragedy in Gaza, perpetrated by those who claim the same tradition. It is time for the world to mobilize to end this incessant violence and to prevent Gaza from becoming another memory in the dark pages of history.