Friday Challenge: Gaza

Gaza. 

Each day’s news brings fresh horrors. 

Monday. Netanyahu says the war in Gaza will be complete only when Hamas is destroyed. 

• Question #1: What is a “just war”? Hamas killed 1,218 people, mostly civilians in its 2023 attack on Israel and kidnapped 251 hostages. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians. 
• Question #2: In a “just war,” how many civilians may be killed in order to “destroy Hamas?” How many children? 

Tuesday. Israel targets the European Hospital near Khan Younis and the Nasser Hospital.  

Also Tuesday: Israeli military officers privately warn that the Israeli blockade of food, fuel, and medical supplies threatens widespread starvation of people in Gaza. 

Wednesday. A wave of Israeli bombing in Jabaliya in northern Gaza kills at least 50 people, including 22 children. 

Thursday. The Israeli blockade of food, fuel, medicine, and other supplies to Gaza continues in its third month. Seventy percent of Gaza is either an Israeli-declared “no go zone” or under evacuation orders. 

Friday. At least 93 people were killed by “widespread” Israeli air strikes in Gaza, including the Jamaliya refugee camp, Beit Lahiya, and Khan Younis. An Israeli official said the bombings were preparation for a larger operation. The Council of Europe denounces “deliberate starvation: of Gaza and warns that Israel is sowing “the seeds for the next Hamas.”  

Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: “No cause, no matter how just or pure, can ever justify every means.” 

Each day this week, I committed to doing one small thing—a phone call, a letter, a comment on a regulation. And I invited readers of this blog to join me. But what can anyone do about Gaza? 

I refuse to avert my eyes, refuse to ignore the horrors that are happening every day, the deaths and suffering of people in Gaza. If I can do nothing else, at least I can do this.

When Biden was in office, I sent multiple messages to the White House and to Senators and Representatives. I suppose that calls to Senators and Representatives can still mean something. 

And, although World Central Kitchen cannot get supplies through the Israeli blockade, I can contribute to them so they are ready when the blockade lifts.