The war between Gaza and Israel has been going on for more than one and a half years. Israeli leaders want Hamas to surrender completely and the hostages should also be returned. Meanwhile, Hamas is silent. Their enmity is directly affecting the people of Gaza Strip. Israel had banned food and fuel supply here in March. Now after heavy pressure, there has been some relief, but it is like a splash of water on a hot pan. On Tuesday, the United Nations warned that if help is not received soon, 14000 children could die in 48 hours. So can the UN weaken Israel by accusing it of war crimes, or will it keep giving warnings only?
On October 7, Hamas attacked Israeli civilians, killing thousands, while taking hundreds of people hostage. Since then, Tel Aviv has been continuously attacking Gaza. To put pressure on Hamas, a blockade of the Gaza Strip was also imposed in March.
Gaza Strip has been an open prison for years
This siege has been going on for almost 18 years, ever since Hamas took over Gaza. As soon as it was declared a terrorist organization, Israel sealed the borders from the north and east. In this, ports and airports were closed. Along with this, strict monitoring was also done on the movement of essential goods.
Egypt also kept the Rafah crossing under strict control. The decade-long blockade has turned Gaza into an open prison. People can neither leave nor come from here. In March, Israel ended the remaining freedom and banned all supplies. There has been devastation since then.
Dense population in less space
Actually Gaza is an area spread over about 40 kilometers, where an average of 6000 people live on every kilometer. Due to the long blockade, they neither had any work nor were they able to get external help. In this, the United Nations Human Rights Chief Tom Fletcher said that if help is not received within 48 hours, fourteen thousand children may die.
Under pressure, Israel gave some relief in the blockade and allowed some trucks to enter. But there is controversy over this too. According to the UN, Gaza currently needs 500 trucks daily, while Israel is restricting its help to only 5 to 10 trucks.
Children are the biggest victims of this tragedy
The Gaza government had said earlier this month that about 3 lakh children are on the verge of death due to starvation. Also, about 11 lakh children are suffering from malnutrition. The same is the condition of adults. One out of every five adults is a victim of starvation.
What happens in starvation
Here starvation does not mean not getting food for a day or two, but getting less nutrition than required for a long time. Experts believe that the body can survive without food for three weeks. This also comes in three stages – the first stage begins as soon as you stop eating. In the second stage, the body manages by using its own fat. The third phase is dangerous. This is the time when the body has used up all the fat and it starts absorbing its own muscles and bones.
This process becomes faster with children. Al Jazeera, citing a UN report, said that so far this year 9000 children have reached the hospital due to severe malnutrition. Apart from this, there will be many children who are not even being brought to the hospital. Among these, the condition of children between zero to two years is worse. This is the same time period in which complete nutrition is necessary for the brain development of children. Now it is also being feared that in the coming time, many deficiencies can be seen in the children of Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Israel is denying that there is a shortage of food in Gaza. It says that it will not lift the blockade until it gets a response from Hamas. However, in the meantime, Tel Aviv gave some concession and allowed some trucks of food supplies to come inside.
Can Israel be forced?
Under the Geneva Convention 1949, there is a straight rule on this. Keeping citizens hungry cannot be a method of war. The International Court of Justice (ICC) also considers keeping the population hungry as a war crime. Both allege that Israel is considering starvation as a method of bargaining so that Hamas surrenders under pressure.
Seeing the continuously deteriorating situation, ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu along with Hamas leader Mohammad Daif. But this method is also not effective. Actually Israel is not a part of the International Court. In such a situation, the arrest of its leader cannot be done under the court’s order. The same is the condition of the UN. It is talking about it, giving warnings but is not able to do anything concrete.