Gaza campaign among deadliest in history
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in history.
In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the United States- led coalition did in its three- year campaign against Isis ( Islamic State).
The Israeli military has said little about what kinds of bombs and artillery it is using in Gaza. But from blast fragments found on- site and analyses of strike footage, experts are confident that the vast majority of bombs dropped on the besieged enclave are US- made. They say the weapons include 900kg “bunker- busters” that have killed hundreds in densely populated areas.
With the Palestinian death toll in Gaza approaching 20,000, the international community is calling for a ceasefire. Israel vows to press ahead, saying it wants to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities following the militant group’s October 7 cross- border rampage that triggered the war, in which it killed 1200 people and took 240 others hostage.
The US has quietly continued to supply arms to Israel. Last week, however, US President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged that Israel was losing international legitimacy for what he called its “indiscriminate bombing”.
The US, key allies and Arab nations engaged in high- level diplomacy yesterday in hopes of avoiding another US veto of a new UN resolution on desperately needed aid to Gaza, and its sponsor expressed hope that the longdelayed vote would take place overnight.
Shahad Matar, spokesperson for the United Arab Emirates which sponsored the Security Council resolution, said yesterday afternoon that “we’re very close to agreement”.
The UN reported yesterday that more than half a million people in Gaza — a quarter of the population — are starving.
The extent of the population’s hunger eclipsed even the nearfamines in Afghanistan and Yemen of recent years, according to figures in the report. The report warned that the risk of famine is “increasing each day”, blaming the hunger on insufficient aid entering Gaza.