We had just caught our breaths when the nightmare began again. The fragile, uneasy ceasefire was shattered. Overnight, our hopes were destroyed. Right across Gaza, the skies ignited with fire and fury, throwing its already traumatised population into the depths of horror once more, taking more than 400 lives – around 180 reported to be children – in one evening of brutal slaughter.
The bombs returned, destroying homes, lives and whatever hopes we had of peace and the start of a better future. Family, friends, colleagues and ActionAid partners across Palestine were inconsolable. A staff member in our partner hospital, Al-Awda, in northern Gaza, was killed along with his pregnant wife and close relatives in the latest despicable attack.
The pain of the resumption of large-scale military bombing is unbearable. One brutal, violent and deadly night – one of the deadliest since the war began over 18 months ago – has set everything back.
Those killed this week were already exhausted, traumatised and starved. Children sleeping in their beds, women, elderly and those wounded from previous bombardments. Bombs indiscriminately rained down on tents, wiping out entire families.
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The ceasefire, which started on January 19th, was already fragile. In fact, Israel broke it several times before the latest attack, killing 170 people, about three a day. Israel blocked aid and restricted certain items in this period including shelter equipment, cement and other vital reconstruction materials. Seven babies died of hypothermia amid a dire shortage of tents and warm clothes.
Under the ceasefire, Israel was supposed to allow 50 desperately ill patients a day travel for treatment. It barely let 15 per cent of that number leave, and it continued air raids and military incursions.
While the level of bombing had reduced dramatically, the suffering was still immense, with the entire population dependent on humanitarian aid which was only briefly scaled up. People began returning to rubble, once their homes. Children – who have been deprived of education – searched for their parents, many of them brutally injured and maimed. Everyone was shell-shocked after 18 months of violence, hunger and fear.
After months of enduring inhumane living conditions and little to no access to medical support, hundreds of pregnant women and new mothers began receiving the vital healthcare they needed at Al-Awda Hospital. Supported with funding from ActionAid Ireland, it is the only functioning hospital in northern Gaza. Against the odds, Al-Awda and its brave, dedicated staff provided life-saving services throughout 15 months of war despite being besieged three times, staff members being killed and the building coming under shelling. Maternity services struggled due to the ferocity of the bombing. During the ceasefire, when hundreds of thousands of displaced people returned to what was left of their homes, the hospital received an influx of patients, and its maternity services saw high demand.
[ Irish-based surgeon loses four family members in Israeli air strike on GazaOpens in new window ]
This fragile reprieve was not to last. Since March 2nd, aid and electricity has been blocked by Israel. It was heartbreaking to know that food was rotting at the border, and medicines so desperately needed held up. Food prices soared, pushing basic items out of reach for many families, while six bakeries were forced to close after running out of cooking gas. Water plants were unable to function, and hospitals were again brought to their knees.
And all the while, the West Bank, where I am based, was being terrorised by Israel.
Painful scenes of displacement and mourning have returned, and colleagues in Gaza are reporting fear and panic on the streets. Terrified families who have only just recently returned to the piles of rubble that are their homes now face being forced to flee yet again as new displacement orders are issued.
A surge of wounded patients is beyond the capacity of the remaining hospitals and clinics. They will simply be unable to properly treat the wounded as they cope with dangerously low or depleted supplies of medicines and healthcare items. Ambulances do not have fuel to reach those critically wounded. This is the annihilation of my people. Resuming attacks without medical aid or food entering Gaza is a death sentence for the Palestinians who are left.
Last week, a UN commission of inquiry highlighted how Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination, and carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities, including destroying an IVF clinic. Right before the eyes of the world Israel has this week inflicted a violence and cruelty on Palestinians with almost no sanction, total impunity and armed to the teeth by the United States. It is hard to put in words the pain, the fear, the sense of deep disappointment with the failure of the international community to act. This was entirely avoidable.
The European Union as a whole has taken no significant action to stop Israel. The US has armed Israel every step of the way and given full diplomatic and political support. Ireland’s words and solidarity have been strong. This makes a difference, but Ireland, and all states, must do more. There must be consequences in the here and now for this gross undermining of international law and for war crimes.
Riham Jafari is the ActionAid Palestine advocacy and communications co-ordinator. She has lived in Palestine her entire life and is currently based in the West Bank
