OMNI WAR
WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #154, NOVEMBER 29, 2023
GAZA
D. D.
Guttenplan. “Gaza in the Long Run.” The
Nation (11.13-20.2023). A dense editorial, thumbnail history
of Palestinian dispossession: the unchecked spread of illegal Israeli
settlements, Palestinians deprived of essentials for life, no hope for
improvement, the inhabitants of Gaza having “every reason to feel desperate and
employ desperate responses.” They must
find a way to share the land in peace and justice. --D
Four Articles from The Guardian
Emma Graham-Harrison and Julian Borger. “Deaths from disease in Gaza could outstrip
deaths from war, UN says. “
WHO warns that people are starving, lack clean water, and the diarrhoea rate is
up 45 times compared with a year ago . TueNov2023
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/28/deaths-from-disease-in-gaza-could-outstrip-deaths-from-war-un-says .
. . .
The World Health Organization also
said that only a “trickle” of aid was reaching Gaza, even during the pause in
fighting. “It’s barely registering,” said Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the
organisation. The scale of displacement meant needs were growing daily, even
when there were no new war injuries.
The UN estimates 1.8 million people in Gaza have
fled their homes, nearly four in five residents, with children making up half
of those crowded into shelters, given shelter by relatives, or living in tents
or cars.
“It is not just the hospitals, everybody
everywhere has dire health needs now, because they are starving, because they
lack clean water, they are crowded together, they are in terror so they have
massive mental health needs. And there is a continuing rise in outbreaks of
infections disease,” Harris said.
Dan Sabbagh. “‘We now just wish to
be killed’: the Palestinians under fire in southern Gaza.” As the Israeli offensive restarts, those who fled the
north find themselves exposed and fearful on the frontline again.
Sat 2 Dec 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/02/we-now-just-wish-to-be-killed-the-palestinians-under-fire-in-southern-gaza .
. . .
Meanwhile, another relative, an uncle, had put
it more succinctly: “What we wish now is to be killed, to avoid going through
all this feeling of threat all the time and being in that distress.” As the war
restarts, hope is running out. Israel’s military said on Saturday it had
bombed 400 targets in the first 24 hours of its renewed campaign against
Hamas on the Gaza Strip, including 50 in Khan Younis, the southern city
that is now the focus of its attacks.
Dan Sabbagh . “Dozens attend protest in Tel Aviv against
Israeli bombardment of Gaza.” Demonstration is first time abductees’ families have come together
with other activists.
Sun Dec. 3,2023 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/03/protest-tel-aviv-against-israel-gaza
Dozens of people attended a noisy fringe protest
in Tel Aviv on Saturday night outside the Israeli military’s headquarters,
protesting against the renewed bombardment on Gaza that they blame for the halt
in the release of the estimated 130 hostages still held by Hamas.
David Owen, Foreign secretary, 1977-79.
“The people of Gaza need a UN protection force . “
We should follow the precedent set in 1992
during the humanitarian crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Fri 1 Dec 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/01/the-people-of-gaza-need-a-un-protection-force