THE Hamas Movement has accused Israeli occupation forces (IOF) of committing a ‘horrific massacre’ that killed more than 15 Palestinians attempting to access food aid near a checkpoint in central Gaza, described as a ‘US-Zionist checkpoint’.
In a statement on Saturday, Hamas said the deadly shooting exposed the ‘ugly criminal face’ of the occupation, accusing Israel of deliberately using hunger as a weapon of war and turning aid distribution points into ‘mass death traps’.
‘The Netanyahu government is using humanitarian aid and starvation as a tool to kill, humiliate, and torment innocent civilians,’ the statement read.
Hamas described the attack as ‘an unprecedented crime of brutality in the modern era’ and a ‘flagrant violation of human values and international law’.
Witnesses reported chaos and panic as gunfire erupted near the aid checkpoint, targeting already starving civilians. Graphic images and footage show bodies strewn across the ground amidst food parcels.
Hamas also condemned what it called ‘the international silence’ in the face of the near-daily massacres unfolding in Gaza for almost 20 months. It argued that the repeated targeting of civilians at aid distribution points amounts to ‘complicity in war crimes that history will not forgive’.
The Movement renewed its appeal to the international community, Arab states, and Islamic countries to urgently intervene to stop the ‘ongoing massacres’ and to ‘break the siege’ on Gaza.
The killing of aid-seeking civilians adds to growing international condemnation of Israel’s use of starvation tactics, which human rights organisations warn could constitute genocide under international law.
Elsewhere, civil society organisations in Malaysia have unveiled a major international initiative – described as the largest of its kind – aimed at breaking the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip through a global maritime movement involving a thousand ships departing from multiple continents. The initiative is being hailed as an ‘uprising of human conscience’ in support of Palestinians and a call to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing crimes.
The announcement was made during a press conference held in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, where Azmi Abdul Hamid, President of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic organisations (MAPIM), said that the initiative is a response to the escalating Israeli aggression and the genocidal crimes being committed against Gaza’s population. He emphasised that the project is gaining growing support from organisations across Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Abdul Hamid noted that the recent seizure of the Madleen vessel by Israeli forces has helped refocus global attention on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and has reignited solidarity movements around the world.
He added that the ‘Fleet of a Thousand Ships’ would be broader and more coordinated than the 2010 ‘Freedom Flotilla’, which was led by the Mavi Marmara.
According to a joint statement signed by dozens of Malaysian institutions, the objectives of this maritime mission include: The immediate lifting of the siege, the delivery of humanitarian aid, the provision of international protection for Gaza’s residents and the prosecution of Israeli leaders for war crimes.
The initiative also aims to pressure governments to take responsibility by ensuring protection for their citizens who join the mission – thereby increasing international pressure on Israel.
Observers anticipate that the ‘Fleet of a Thousand Ships’ initiative will become a focal point of the global struggle to free Palestine.
In fact, the British and US trade unions must make this struggle their own struggle and be determined to win it, by forcing the US and UK trade union organisations to call general strikes in support of Palestine to bring down the US, UK and EU regimes and replace these stooges of capitalism with Revolutionary Workers Governments that will make the freeing of Palestine the issue the hour.
The time is here for the establishment of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Forward to the victory of the world socialist revolution! There is not a moment to lose!
