Gaza War
Since 9th October, Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza. This means food, supply of medicines, water, and even electricity have been cut off by Israel in Gaza. On top of that, the continuous bombardment is unimaginable. The scenes coming out of Gaza are shocking.
Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. These were the Gazan buildings that were targeted by Israel. Estimates show that more than 2,800 Palestinian civilians have been Killed. Thousands are still trapped in this debris. The ones who are still alive are trying to get shelter in hospitals and schools. But by 16th October, water was also running out in the United Nations shelters.
The United Nations agency UNRWA said on 15th October that they are witnessing an unprecedented human catastrophe in Gaza. Mehmood Matar, a surgeon working in Gaza, told BBC that hospitals are completely overwhelmed. There is no water, and no electricity, and the network connection is also unstable.
He said that he was looking for water.
Another doctor working at Naseer Hospital in Gaza said that fuel is also going to run out. There are 60 patients on dialysis. 35 patients are in the ICU they need ventilators. If fuel runs out, it will not be possible to save them. And this isn't in only one hospital. It's the same everywhere. On 17 October, health officials said that the only oncology hospital in Gaza would be shut down within 48 hours if the situation continues like this. And all cancer patients will be left without critical care.
Take a look at the map of Gaza. It is a small place. This strip is spread over just 365 km².
If you compare it with the size of New York, you will realize how small it is. Even if you compare it with Delhi is almost 1/4th of the size of Delhi.
In this small area, 2.3 million people live. This is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Even before the war began, the living conditions here were very bad. The people who lived here were constantly under Israeli surveillance and could not even travel beyond Gaza without Israel's permission. It is also important to mention that out of the 2.3 million population, almost half of the population are children. You heard it right.
This is the reason why according to the estimates, out of all the people killed in this war, 60% of them were women and children living in Gaza. But the situation was so bad even before the war began that those criticizing Israel called Gaza an open-air prison. As if the place is an open jail.
On 7th October, Hamas attacked Israel, which started this war. But in response, Israel is continuously attacking Gaza.
By putting a total blockade on Gaza, due to this, not only Hamas members are being killed, but also Palestinian civilians. And now Gaza has turned into hell.
People say that dolling out collective punishment like this to the people of Gaza Israel's action is no less than terrorism. The Norwegian Foreign Minister said that it is unacceptable to impose a total blockade. At least humanitarian aid, such as medicine and food, should be allowed in Gaza.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had a similar opinion. Israel should allow humanitarian aid in Gaza and Hamas should release Israeli hostages without any conditions.
Imagine in such circumstances, if you were a common person living in Gaza, what would you have gone through?
You don't have electricity, water, The Internet connection is cut off, you can't get food from anywhere. And then one day you suddenly see some pamphlets falling from the sky. On those pamphlets, there is a warning from Israel.
In the warning, it is written that all the people living in the north of the Gaza Strip should evacuate and go to the south of the Gaza Strip.
You can hear the sound of bombardment all around. And now you are being warned to vacate your house as soon as possible and go to the south if you want to survive.
According to the estimates, about 1.1 million people live in Northern Gaza. The IDF warned everyone
to evacuate and go to the South. The shelters of the United Nations in Northern Gaza were no longer safe. Anyone could be targeted in Northern Gaza, the hospitals, schools, or even clinics.
The UNRWA pointed out that many pregnant women, children, and elderly people would not be able to move. Where will they go? How will they evacuate?
On top of that, the World Health Organization strongly condemned Israel's orders. There are 22 hospitals in northern Gaza which has more than 2,000 patients. How will hospitals be evacuated?
Despite this, the Israeli military said that around 600,000 Gazans evacuated from the northern area to the south. 500,000 people did not evacuate, but let's assume that you were among those who evacuated to the south. But does this mean you will be safe from the bombings?
"Our people that were killed or injured during these aerial strikes, in their homes in Deir al Balah, which is located in Southern Gaza." We witnessed instances of airstrikes in Central Gaza, where the homes of many families were destroyed. People living in Southern Gaza aren't safe either.
Khan Yunis, a city in Southern Gaza, had to suffer through multiple airstrikes.
A BBC correspondent confirmed the air strike in southern Gaz a building near the Rafah crossing was damaged indeed.
According to the correspondent, Israel hit the area near the Rafah crossing point at least thrice. This area is very important.
This is the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. If there is no safe place in Gaza, people will think of leaving Gaza. On one side, there is the sea, where you cannot go. On two sides, there is the country of Israel, where you obviously cannot go.
So, the only place that you can flee to is Egypt in the south.
And there is only one border crossing here. The Rafah border crossing. So, what would you have done in such a situation? To escape the bombardment, you would have tried to flee Gaza. Thousands of people tried to do this so they gathered at the Rafah border.
But Egypt still needs to be ready to open this border. Egypt and other Arab countries say that it is unacceptable for Palestinian refugees to go to their countries because the Palestinians have their own country. They cannot be thrown out of their own country. In the midst of all this, the danger of the war escalating is also rising because clashes were seen in Israel and Lebanon. North of Israel in Lebanon where the Hizbollah militant group operates. Like the Hamas group, Hizbollah is also backed by Iran and there has already been a war between Hizbollah and Israel in 2006, which lasted for a month.
On 16 October, an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon which fell in a town in northern Israel, and injured three people. Israel has ordered its civilians to evacuate the area near the Lebanon border.
The biggest threat here is that Hizbollah is more dangerous than Hamas and more powerful. They have lakhs of rockets and missiles which can attack anywhere in Israel.
On top of that, Iran has also warned Israel that if Israel tries to do a ground invasion in Gaza, that is if it deploys its army to Gaza on the ground, it can get a response from other places. It should also be noted here that around 900 Indian troops are stationed at the Israel-Lebanon border. They are a part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Indian troops have been stationed there since 1978. On 15th October it was reported that a rocket shell fell near the site in southern Lebanon. Thankfully, no casualties were reported.
It is still a big mystery how could Hamas collect more than 5,000 rockets in Gaza? and how was Israel completely unaware of it?
In the last blog, I said that Egypt had already warned Israel that an attack was imminent. Later it was found that America also had information about it and they also warned Israel too. There was an update on 28 September by multiple streams of intelligence that Hamas can launch rocket attacks across the border.
On 6th October, one day before the attack, American officials circulated a report that Hamas was showing unusual activity. And an attack could happen at any time. A Middle Eastern diplomat in Washington DC told CNN that his government was repeatedly warning the White House and the US intelligence officials that there was a build-up of weapons by Hamas.
He also said that they have so many weapons in Gaza that it was 'beyond anybody's imagination.' So, the question arises, did the Israeli government already know about this attack and they did nothing?
Many elections were held and the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, and bribery in three different scandals. Allegations are that billionaires have given him money. He denies this but a corruption trial is going on against Netanyahu which includes Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000. These trials are pending. I told you in this video how Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to interfere with the judiciary. He is trying to change the process of how judges are selected. Citizens in Israel were out on the streets, there were nationwide protests in Israel a while back.
Here, you might recall the same lines of Rahat Indori. "Is there a lot of tension at the borders? Find out if the election is around the corner." Since the start of this war, Netanyahu has used emergency powers to keep his position secure. Had this war not happened, and the corruption trial against him went on as scheduled, would he have had to resign from his Prime Ministerial position?
The peace process was almost over when a fanatic shot him. On the other hand, what did Netanyahu do? He leads a right-wing government with a chest-thumping approach. He divided the power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He ignored the legitimate Palestinian Authority and the President And Hamas, a terrorist organization, and he tried to negotiate with them indirectly through Egypt.
Look at this article in The Telegraph. "How Benjamin Netanyahu empowered Hamas and broke Israel" This 18th October article from the Times of Israel.
"For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas Now it's blown up in our faces" It states that, according to several reports, Netanyahu had said that they should facilitate the transfer of funds to Gaza so that there can be a separation between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.
He said that this gap would ensure, that a Palestinian state will never be formed. An extreme right-wing politician from his political party made a statement in 2015 that Israel's policy is to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and treat Hamas as an asset. The Israeli government allowed suitcases with millions of dollars from Qatar to enter Gaza to benefit Hamas in 2018. These may seem shocking to you but the majority of the Israeli public already knows about these things. Because thankfully the Israeli media is still free. It does not sit in their government's lap.
This is the reason why according to the latest polls, the approval rating of Netanyahu has been falling rapidly since the war started. According to a recent poll, only 29% of the Israelis support Netanyahu now. This has reached an all-time low. Israel is now witnessing protests against Netanyahu's government.
People are venting their anger on Netanyahu. With placards in their hands. "Bibi, you have blood on your hands." "Go to jail, Bibi." In another incident, an angry mob shouted at the Israeli Cabinet Minister outside a hospital. And the minister had to go back.
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