Trump’s so-called “ceasefire” in Gaza is now more than six months old. But Israel’s genocide continues as it denies entry of aid and basic medical supplies to a devastated population.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has again exposed Israel’s brutal efforts to maintain the blockade of Gaza and block the delivery of aid. As we went to press 57 boats were making another attempt to reach Gaza after Israel illegally seized 22 boats far from its own coastline near Greece.
After they arrested 211 activists, Israeli soldiers savagely beat people with rifle butts and batons. Australian activist Zack Schofield said, “I saw elderly men shot at point-blank range with rubber bullets. I saw a young woman, part of my crew, punched in the ribs about 10 or 11 times.”
Under the ceasefire agreement Israel was meant to open the Rafah border crossing, allow 600 aid trucks per day into Gaza and stop the bombing. Israel hasn’t done any of this.
It has continued near-daily attacks on Palestinians, killing at least 850 people during the “ceasefire”. This adds to a total death toll of at least 72,000 since the genocide began.
It is still strangling aid deliveries. Just 37 per cent of the aid agreed was allowed entry in the first six months of the ceasefire. An average of 227 trucks a day are now entering Gaza compared to 400 daily before the genocide.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says this is “translating into entirely preventable deaths”. The genocide continues at a slower pace.
Life in the camps of Gaza is a living hell. More than 60 million tonnes of debris litter the strip. Amid the rubble people are living in makeshift tents often made of blankets, fabric scraps and nylon sheets, which rarely keep out the rain.
The inability to repair sanitation systems means disease and pests have become widespread, with infestations of rodents and insects. One family described to Mondoweiss how they woke at night, on a wet floor in total darkness, to the screams of their one-year-old. He was being gnawed on by a large rat, “about the size of a rabbit”.
Yet Israel imposes a near complete ban on entry of tents and caravans, items needed to repair power generators, water treatment products and even rat poison.
Most medical equipment like ultrasound machines are banned and there are severe shortages of basic medicines like insulin.
No end in sight
Even under the ceasefire Israel has continued to occupy huge areas of Gaza. The “yellow line” that marks its area of control has been continually expanded, with Israel now holding over 60 per cent of Gaza. Palestinians who approach too close to the line are shot.
Doctors Without Borders writes that, “The perimeter of the yellow line has become a kill zone, with gunfire, airstrikes and shelling from Israeli forces happening daily.”
And there is no end in sight. Further ceasefire talks between Israel, Trump and Hamas have stalled.
Hamas are demanding that Israel upholds its current ceasefire obligations before any discussion of the next phase of the agreement.
Yet the US and Israel are demanding that Hamas completely disarms first before any Israeli withdrawal, opening of border crossings or reconstruction. Hamas has every right to refuse to do so—with Israel continuing breaching ceasefire agreements and arming gangs inside Gaza to destabilise the area.
Israel says it may consider the ceasefire void if Hamas will not disarm. Israeli media has been reporting plans for a “return to war” in Gaza.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israel is aggressively expanding its illegal settlements. Last year Israel opened 54 new settlements across the West Bank, an annual record. Just last month, the Knesset approved 34 new settlements in a single sitting.
Every new settlement means even more horror for Palestinians, as Israeli settlers, supported by the IDF, forcibly displace Palestinians from their homes, tear up their crops, and push them into narrower pockets of Palestinian-controlled land.
Israel is pushing towards the complete ethnic cleansing of both Gaza and the West Bank.
Our Labor government continues to supply them with the arms, intelligence and political cover to do this.
We need to keep fighting for real sanctions on Israel to stop the horror.
By Maeve Larkins
