Neglect of Gaza is not genocide of Gazans

Yesterday I had an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post positing that we are not committing genocide in Gaza.  This was in response to the opinion piece by Dr. Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Rhode Islam’s Brown University which appeared in the New York Times on July 15^th .

While a number of readers disagreed with me, I stand by my position that what we are seeing now in Gaza is neglect, irresponsibility and, at least from my perspective, a war that no longer has reason to be fought. It remains a mystery to me how the political echelon here chooses to keep this war in Gaza going even in the face of military advice that there is no longer any defensive advantage to be gained from doing so.  At best there is still hope to get the hostages back, at worst it adds credence to the theory of some that the war continues in order to support the political ambitions of our prime minister.

However, what cannot be denied is that there is a severe humanitarian crisis continuing and growing in Gaza while everyone, including Israel, does little to address the issue, created (a) as a result of Hamas’s brutal massacre of over 1,200 of our citizens, (b)  almost two year long war, (c) their continuing to still hold 50 Israeli hostages, and (d) Egypt’s refusal to let Gazans leave who wish to do so.  Couple all of that with the world’s reluctance to put any pressure whatsoever on Hamas to put down their arms and release the hostages, and we are left with an unending war and people starving in Gaza.

According to a report yesterday by the Israeli Humanitarian Forum for Gaza, which includes Israeli humanitarian and aid organizations such as Mitvim (i.e. the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies) there is a severe deterioration in humanitarian conditions on the ground, and assistance is needed to address them.

Some examples include:

• The GHF system to distribute humanitarian aid brings in food in insufficient quantities, creating a massive pressure at its few distribution points, which are themselves unsafe by drawing people to these areas that are ostensibly secured by the IDF but then patrolled by unknown and unreliable security contractors.
• Dozens are killed and wounded each day at the GHF sites. This week the ICRC again documented patients coming to their Rafah Field Hospital dead, or passing out, or severely wounded.
• Regarding the entry of aid, the UN announced this week that more than 700 trucks are stuck at the Kerem Shalom crossing, not being admitted because they will be looted. Because such limited quantities come in, the pressure is too high and it generates looting (which is also a result of an absence of any security throughout Gaza).
• This week, some hospitals reported that they have had to stop providing food to patient’s families and, in some cases even to reduce food for the patients themselves, because there is not enough food available in Gaza.  Reports note a rising number of children hospitalized with malnutrition, the closure of bakeries and distribution centers, and more.

There are, of course, many physical reasons for all of this.   There are fuel shortages, as well as ongoing violence, insufficient aid quantities, looting, and the deepening crisis that has developed in the months since the ceasefire.

If world diplomacy was a term that we could trust, there is plenty of blame to go around.

• Hamas, who started all of this on October 7^th and continues to refuse to stop fighting and release the hostages, is the prime culprit.
• Qatar and its allies who, on the one hand want to play the role of honest broker when it comes to making peace, but continues to host Hamas leadership there and refuses to use their leverage to force Hamas to lay down their arms.
• The 25 nations of the western world who this week passed a resolution demanding that Israel end the war but who choose not to pressure Hamas, the real culprit in this saga, to lay down their arms and return the hostages.
• Egypt, who will bear the mark of Cain until eternity for allowing Hamas to build entrances to their tunnel networks from Egypt and also prevented Gazans from leaving the war zone when they wanted to do so.
• And, of course, Israel, which is now prolonging a war whose stated objectives cannot be met and which is causing Israeli casualties on a daily basis.

The bottom line?  This is not genocide.  There is no intent on the part of Israel to eradicate the people of Gaza. Genocide, if it is to be applied at all, is the reserve of Hamas who continues to call for the destruction of Israel and the Jews as part of their reason for being.   But there is neglect, passivity and avoidance of responsibility when it comes to the humanitarian crisis that has been created and which gets worse each day.

According to the principles of international law we here in Israel do not have to provide humanitarian aid to a country that chose to attack us and with whom we are now fighting a defensive war for the survival of our people and our country.  But there is a human side for which, in the absence of responsible leadership on the side of our enemy, the world does have an obligation to act on behalf of the civilian population and we are part of that world as well.

Pirke Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers, tell us clearly:  “You are not required to finish your work, but neither are you permitted to desist from it.”  Like it or not, we need to engage the rest of the world to work diligently to address this issue and not use security issues as an excuse for not doing so.