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AS US CELEBRATES THANKSGIVING, ISRAEL-IMPOSED STARVATION AND
SUFFERING IN GAZA INTENSIFIES  
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Julia Conley
November 27, 2024
Common Dreams
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_ "The war in Gaza is a war on children. There is no plainer way to
illustrate this than to look at the people who make up the death
figures—over 4 in every 10 people verified killed in Gaza are
children." _

Palestinian children carry pots as they queue to receive food cooked
by a charity kitchen in Rafah on December 14, 2023. As of that date
more than 500,000 Gazans were estimated to have exhausted their food
supplies., [Saleh Salem/Reuters]

 

As millions prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States on
Wednesday, human rights advocates provided dispatches from nearly
6,000 miles away in Gaza [[link removed]],
where the Biden administration has continued to provide political and
military support for Israel's onslaught despite public disapproval 
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the war among Americans.

Palestinians in Gaza are now facing their second winter amid Israel's
bombardment and near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, which began
in October 2023.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement
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Israel's blocking of deliveries including blankets, shoes, and
clothing has left Gaza's 2.3 million—nearly half of whom are
children—vulnerable to the elements, especially since at least 70%
of homes in the enclave have been destroyed in the last 13 months.

"Euro-Med Monitor notes that Israel
[[link removed]] restricts the entry of such
items as part of its efforts to impose harsh living conditions on the
Palestinian people that will ultimately lead to their actual
destruction, as part of the comprehensive crime of genocide it is
committing in the Gaza Strip," said the group. "There is no military
necessity or justification under international law that permits the
prevention of basic necessities from reaching a civilian population."

At least 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, and as
Euro-Med Monitor said, "the vast majority of displaced people in the
Gaza Strip continue to live in tents that do not provide adequate
protection from the cold and rain."

Hundreds of thousands of people, including women, children, and
elderly people, have been left without appropriate clothing for harsh
weather—and at greater risk of contracting respiratory infections
and other illnesses, which health authorities in the enclave are
poorly equipped to treat due to Israel's blockade.

A woman named Ruba told
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humanitarian group Save the Children that in northern Gaza, where
Israel began an offensive in early October, she has been "trapped with
[her] children under relentless bombs, rockets, and bullets, with
nowhere to run."

"My mother is paralyzed, and I cannot leave her behind. My brother has
been killed, my husband was taken, and I don't know if he's alive. Our
home was destroyed over our heads, and we survived by a miracle," Ruba
said.

"With no food, no clean water, and constant fear, both my children
have developed rashes, and my daughter is passing blood, but there is
no medicine, no help, and absolutely nothing I can do," she continued.
"They cry and ask me why we can't just leave, why their father isn't
with us, why we can't go back to a normal life.”

Humanitarian workers with the group have observed children barefoot in
streets littered with sewage and debris from Israeli attacks,
sometimes walking "in the rain while wearing only light, shabby
clothing."

"Children who lack shoes are more likely to sustain wounds and
injuries, leaving them susceptible to infection in an environment
devoid of medical supplies and medications because of the strict
blockade," said Euro-Med Monitor.

"Israel's continuous and severe deprivation of the fundamental
necessities of life is an act of genocide, as it seeks to strip the
Palestinian population of the most basic means of protection, with the
aim of physically erasing their existence," said the group. "Children
and other vulnerable groups are specifically targeted by Israel as
they are more affected by this deprivation, which exacerbates their
suffering and raises the death rates among them; due to the lack of
refuge from winter weather, these rates will undoubtedly spike without
international intervention."

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
[[link removed]] Refugees in the Near
East (UNRWA) warned 
[[link removed]]Wednesday that severe
food shortages are also set to worsen without immediate international
intervention and a cease-fire.

The groups' warnings come two weeks after the passing of a
U.S.-imposed deadline 
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significantly ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. The Biden
administration in October ordered Israel to allow at least 350 aid
trucks into Gaza per day, or else it would invoke U.S. laws that
prohibit the government from providing military aid to countries that
block U.S. humanitarian relief.

But even as experts said Israel was continuing its blockade and
failing to meet the Biden administration's terms, the U.S. took no
action
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end its support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel
Defense Forces.

"The war in Gaza is a war on children," said
[[link removed]] Jeremy
Stoner, regional director of Save the Children. "There is no plainer
way to illustrate this than to look at the people who make up the
death figures—over 4 in every 10 people verified killed in Gaza are
children."

"Safe humanitarian access must be granted immediately to allow food,
water, winter supplies, and medical assistance to reach those who are
trapped in the death zone in the north," added Stoner. "The
international community must step up and make sure that happens, in
line with their obligations. Without access and a cease-fire, we are
condemning children to perish in hell on Earth."

_Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* Israel-Gaza War
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* starvation
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* humanitarian disasters
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