An current affair that has been heavily covered for over a year and a half here on our school’s news is the developing genocide committed by the state of Israel against the Palestinian civilian population. The ongoing open air genocide did not simply start a year and a half ago when the terrorist group Hamas deployed an attack against Israeli civilians where a plethora of coordinated strikes took place in which civilians were killed and hostages were taken. This story is not about October 7th or the on-going war in which Israel has fire-bombed civilian centers to find terrorists. The focus of this piece is the current starvation in which the Palestinian people are currently facing.
The situation in Gaza for those that perceive bias through my speech is a genocide. Even the United Nations consider what is happening to the Palestinian people a genocide according to a March 2024 special report, quoted as saying “There are ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories” there is a factual basis which is in-depthly explained in the said UN report which is linked here. The report is able to speak about the anatomy of a genocide, how it happen, why it is wrong, and how factually the plight of the Palestinian peple is a genocide, far better than I ever could to the audience.
The Palestinian civilian population in Gaza has faced starvation for over 70 days now as Israel has denied all humanitarian aid into Gaza. In March, the Israeli government made the decision to seal all borders, and entries in the civilian city of Gaza. Since March, all shipments of medicine, food, and water have been totally blocked out by Israel. This happened after Israel broke the two month long ceasefire which was agreed on between Hamas and Israel to stop all fighting within Gaza. With this ceasefire deal there were multiple phases that could’ve in theory lead to the end of fighting in its totality. This plan never came to be, the second phase would involve releasing all hostages, civilians as well as members of each side’s respective military. The prospect of a ceasefire like this, the second phase specifically, was unacceptable to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Zionist religious extremists government in which he presides over.
According to one estimate by CNN 1 in 5 people in Gaza are currently facing starvation. According to a report from the IPC which was then written about by CNN quote “high levels of acute food security” and the territory is at “high risk” of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in its latest report Monday.” The situation in Gaza at this moment in time is very dire and the civilian population of an estimated 2.1 million people are facing imminent famine, and starvation if current trends continue an estimated millions could die as a result as the Palestinians are pushed into a smaller and smaller zone by the Israeli Defense Forces.
Seemingly the only way forward to prevent famine and the death of hundreds of thousands of people according to the IPC would be “Only an immediate and sustained cessation of hostilities and the resumption of humanitarian aid delivery can prevent a descent into famine,” said the report. As the likelihood of an imminent famine and mass loss of civilian life increases, the Israeli Defense Forces and the Netanyahu controlled government prepare for a new wave of fighting and push into Gaza. The IPC also commented saying “ Nearly 469,500 people – around 22% of the population – will likely experience “catastrophic” food insecurity” The world watches in horror as the best seemingly is not ahead for the Palestinian civilian populations in Gaza.
As the Genocide seems to ramp up in scale. The Zionist Government responded through “David Mencer, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said Monday that “famine has never happened” in Gaza” there only response is denial claiming that the humanitarian crisis and open air prison in which the Palestinian people live under is a fault of Hamas, a disorganized loose coalition cells that make up a “government” ranging in scope, ideology, and extremism but are all factually terrorists. With this knowledge in mind those highest at risk for famine in the Gaza strip are Children and Pregnant women being at the highest risk. There are expected to be 71,000 cases of malnutrition among children five and under between the months of April and March 2026. As well as 17,000 expected cases of pregnant women who will suffer from extreme malnutrition.
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