The only way to end Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe: Tackle its root causes

Editor's Note: Tarik Cyril Amar, a special commentator for CGTN, is a historian and geopolitical analyst based in Istanbul. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are suffering what the UN calls a "horrific human rights and humanitarian crisis." Its immediate cause is Israel's assault that began after the Hamas attack of October7. Reuters reported that U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said on April 23 that he was "horrified" by the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies there.

In Gaza, Israel had killed at least 34,151 Palestinians (as of April 22), including almost 8,500 women and nearly 15,000 children. More than 77,000 victims have been injured. The missing exceed 8,000. About 1.7 million out of 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced. In January, the International Court of Justice recognized the Israeli attack as a possible case of genocide.

One of Earth's most densely populated places, the Gaza Strip has suffered from an Israeli blockade since 2007. Even then UN experts found that its inhabitants were "deprived of their fundamental human rights and subjected to collective punishment," a crime under international law.

But now things are much worse again because, since last October, Israel has imposed an even more severe blockade, while destroying more than half of Gaza's housing and most vital infrastructure, including hospitals, wells, waste disposal facilities and so on. If you want a concise list of things an urban society absolutely needs to survive, just track what Israel has systematically demolished.

According to the international "gold standard" for assessing food crises – the "Integrated Food Security Phase Classification" – by mid-March, 1.1 million Palestinians were subject to "catastrophic hunger." In the words of Matthew Hollingworth from the World Food Program, this starvation is entirely "man-made," leaving a "dark mark" on a world that is not stopping it. 

The question is why not.  

In terms of technical feasibility, the Gaza Strip could be supplied relatively quickly with sufficient aid, including food as well as other basics of survival, such as fuel, water and medicine. It is small, with an area of 365 square kilometers, the equivalent of the mid-ranking American city of Atlanta.  

This small, 41-kilometer long patch of land has seven border crossings. At this moment, most of them are closed and the remaining ones operating are well under capacity. Gaza even used to have a small airport, until Israel razed it two decades ago.

The Gaza Strip and its inhabitants, in sum, are extremely accessible. The reasons why sufficient aid is not reaching them are political.  

At the start of the Israeli assault, Minister of Defense Yoav Galant announced a "total blockade" and "complete siege," in effect admitting to a strategy of creating a humanitarian crisis as an indiscriminate weapon. That, too, is a crime under international humanitarian law, which regulates armed conflict.  

Israel is also in breach of its obligations as an occupying power. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005. But it retained, to use the legal term, "effective control" and thus remained an occupier, obliged to ensure that the basic needs of the population are met – exactly the opposite of what Israel has been doing.

Since escalating to "total blockade" last October, it has not changed course, while using minor concessions and deception as delaying tactics. For instance, by counting the aid that arrives at Israeli inspection points – really, choke points – instead of what is actually delivered in Gaza. With trucks by far the most efficient means of transporting aid, letting them enter in large numbers would be the key to providing help on a scale that matches the crisis. This is why the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel specifically to open more of the land crossings to Gaza. Yet Israel is still not letting sufficient aid flow through them.  

Israel has also attacked the international agency long specialized in helping Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), including the killing of at least 178 of its staff and damaging 163 of its sites. In addition, it has launched an international smear campaign to defund it, making allegations that have remained unproven. The purpose of this policy is clear: to tighten the blockade further by crippling and eliminating Gaza's most efficient aid agency.

With UNRWA under massive attack, Israel then committed airstrikes against another aid organization, World Central Kitchen (WCK). While its presence in the Gaza Strip was short-lived, WCK was part of a larger phenomenon: alibi operations to deliver insufficient amounts of aid, while producing favorable media coverage. 

These operations have included grossly inadequate air drops and the building of a controversial pier, predicted to be inefficient and suspected of facilitating the future ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by sea. Most recently, in the same spirit, 9 billion dollars have been earmarked for "humanitarian aid" (but not exclusively for Gaza) in a new U.S. funding package that excludes UNRWA and foresees 13 billion of additional military supplies for Israel.

If Washington were sincere about ending Gaza's horror, it could force Israel to finally relent. Instead, the U.S. is trying to have it both ways: Arming Israel whatever crimes it commits, while creating a pretense of helping its victims.

Gaza now "bears the dubious distinction of being a place where you can observe an airstrike and an airdrop on the same day," as a Palestinian has put it. 

The only way out of this immoral and politically perverse situation is to lift the Israeli blockade completely. And that can only happen once both Israel and the U.S. sincerely change course to allow a full ceasefire, as the UN and the preponderant majority of its members have long demanded. 

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)