Israel has been massacring civilians in Palestine for three weeks, citing the harm to civilians in Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7. According to data from independent sources, nearly half of the thousands killed in attacks are children.
It is also stated that the amount of explosives Israel used while bombing the Gaza Strip has now reached 12,000 tons, the equivalent of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Schools, churches, mosques, playgrounds, hospitals, in short, whatever is immune in a war, are especially targeted by Israel. Prohibited weapons such as phosphorus artilleries are being used in Gaza’s civilian areas as if to expose them to the world.
The United States and European Union nations support Tel Aviv despite Israel’s war crimes, which fully correspond to the definition of “genocide” in international law. Western leaders go to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s doorstep and show their support, even as he rains bombs on more than 2 million civilians in Gaza, where access to essential resources like water, electricity and food has been cut off.
However, global public opinion is clearly siding with the Palestinian people this time. I’m not just talking about Muslim-majority nations. In London, a crowd of 100,000 people marched in solidarity with Palestine. In cities like New York, Paris and Berlin, tens of thousands have taken to the streets, undeterred by police measures and fines. From Hollywood A-listers to musicians, athletes to artists, many are expressing their support for the Palestinian cause.
Unlike previous instances where Israel carried out massacres in Palestine with similar excuses, this time, they couldn’t shape the perception they wanted in the global public opinion. Inexplicable actions such as removing climate campaigner Greta Thunberg from the school curriculum for her statement, “I stand with Gaza,” have backfired.
The efforts by the Netanyahu administration to obscure evidence of war crimes reflect their understanding of the gravity of the current situation. Because they are aware that they stand to lose their legitimacy in the eyes of the global community and that, eventually, they will face legal consequences for this genocide. It is a certainty that cannot be avoided.
However, the responsibility for all that does not lie solely with Netanyahu. Even though the Israeli prime minister issues unlawful orders, the entire apparatus of the Israeli state that allows the genocide carried out in Gaza today bears shared responsibility in every facet.
The words of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the high-level Israeli-Palestinian session held in the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) became among the most substantial evidence to be used against Israel in the future.
Highlights from Guterres’ speech that went down in history are as follows:
“It is important also to recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled, their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.”
Stating that the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas, the U.N. secretary-general also said, “And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
“Even war has rules,” he added.
“The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the level of civilian casualties and the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods continue to mount and are deeply alarming.”
Humanity is grateful to Mr. Guterres for his courageous stance in favor of peace, law and justice, which has contributed to the resolution of many global crises.
