Issued by the Office of Chairperson
International League of Peoples' Struggle
July26, 2014
Israel’s murderous onslaught on Gaza which has entered into its third week has left more than 900 Palestinian children, women, elderly and other civilians killed, more than 5,000 wounded and 140,000 forced to seek shelter in cramped UNWRA (United Nations Works and Relief Agency) refugee camps.
The Israeli aggression has destroyed more than 3,000 homes and targeted mosques, UN-operated shelters, schools, hospitals, water facilities and electric grids. Hospitals are running out of medicine which have been running short because of the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza in the past year.
White phosphorus bombs have been used on civilian areas. White phosphorus is a chemical compound that burns structures and people. The use of phosphorus bombs against civilians is prohibited by the Geneva conventions. The use of these US-supplied bombs by Israel on populated areas in Gaza according to Amnesty International constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law, including war crimes.
White phosphorus can cause injuries and death by burning deep into tissue and by being inhaled as smoke. Incendiary particles cast off by a white phosphorus (WP) weapon's initial explosion can produce extensive, deep second and third degree burns. Phosphorus burns carry a greater risk of death than other forms of burns due to the absorption of phosphorus into the body through the burned area, resulting in liver, heart and kidney damage, and in multiple organ failure.
About 2 million people in Gaza are virtually trapped in a prison. They have no electricity and they cannot go out to buy goods or food and clothes with drones, F-16s flying over Gaza around the clock and tanks continuously shelling homes. People have no escape since the Rafah Crossing to Egypt has been closed for the most part the past months.
The Israeli military which is the fourth most powerful army in the world continues its brutal campaign against a population that possesses no regular military of a modern state. Israel receives from the US 3billion dollars in military aid every year. This aid comprises 1/3 of the entire US foreign aid budget to a country that has only .001% of the world’s population. Even as Israel was carrying out its brutal military campaign against the civilian population in Gaza, the US Congress approved an additional $351 million for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system.
The UN meanwhile issues useless statements of concern and toothless admonitions which Israel only arrogantly brushes aside. Israel’s arrogance comes from the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)is a mere extension of the US war machine in exercise of US imperialism’s hegemony in the Middle East and Africa.
Human rights organizations the world over have condemned the war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated by the Israeli Zionists. Even Jewish organizations concerned with human rights and peace have been outraged and are opposed to the genocidal atrocities being committed by the Zionists. These are being condemned as evil and monstrous, no different in character from the crimes of Hitler against the Jewish people.
More than 20 leading doctors and scientists fromthe UK and Italy have denounced the ongoing aggressionin Gaza. They condemned the blockade imposed on Gaza the past year that has caused not only starvation and poverty on the residents but in a serious lack of access to medicine and health care.They denounced the bombing of hospitals that have destroyed even operating theaters resulting in the deaths of patients and hospital staff.
In their public statement they said, “We as scientists and doctors cannot keep silent while this crime against humanity continues. We urge readers not to be silent too. Gaza trapped under siege, is being killed by one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated modern military machines.The land is poisoned by weapon debris, with consequences for future generations. If those of us capable of speaking up fail to do so and take a stand against this war crime, we are also complicit in the destruction of the lives and homes of 1.8 million people in Gaza.”
ILPS calls on the people of the world to undertake mass actions of indignation, condemn the aggression and serious violations of international law by Israel anddemand the immediate end of the aggression and blockade and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid and the free passage of basic necessities essential to human existence.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestionian people and support their struggle to uphold,defend and advance their right to national self-determination and their right to national liberation against Israeli aggression, occupation and oppression
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