🇧🇩 Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker? (1 Viewer)

[Saif]

Foreign minister calls for greater OIC role to end Gaza atrocities​

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud. File photo

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud called on the OIC member states to take alternate measures to end the conflict in Gaza and to ensure rights for the Palestinian people.

The foreign minister reiterated Bangladesh's firm support for the Palestinian cause and called for an immediate ceasefire and opening of humanitarian corridors in the besieged territory.

While addressing the 19th Extraordinary CFM of the OIC on Israel's' aggression on the Palestinian People in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he also stressed on the importance of the Islamic Financial Safety Net to ensure basic necessities for the Palestinians.

Foreign minister, mentioning the strong statement delivered by Bangladesh at the ICJ in February for the Palestinians, hoped that peace will be established soon in the region.

Noting the current stalemate at the United Nations Security Council, Foreign Minister highlighted the need for its reform so that decision on globally effecting issues could be reached.

He stressed the importance of Muslim Ummah's unity to stop atrocities against Palestinians, ensuring their safe and peaceful living in their homeland.

Earlier yesterday, Dr Hasan Mahmud paid a courtesy call on Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at the OIC Secretariat in Jeddah.

Expressing satisfaction at bilateral ties, Dr Mahmud hoped for deeper cooperation between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, anticipating a visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Al Saud affirmed Saudi Arabia's commitment to sophisticated economic cooperation.

They discussed increasing sectoral cooperation, trade, and investment opportunities, with Dr. Mahmud seeking cooperation in crude oil purchase, which Al Saud promised to consider, including investments in refinery and petrochemical industries.

Al Saud congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her re-election and praised her leadership in hosting Rohingya refugees, pledging Saudi Arabia's full support.

Hasan Mahmud also met with OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha.

Taha praised Sheikh Hasina's leadership and reaffirmed OIC's support for Rohingya people.

The foreign minister advocated for greater trade and investment among OIC member states to mitigate economic challenges stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, proposing a dedicated cell at the OIC Secretariat for trade-related information dissemination.​

 

[Bilal9]

This Inu guy is going nuts.

He is requesting MBS to come to Bangladesh, as if MBS has not much else to do.

 

[Saif]

This Inu guy is going nuts.

He is requesting MBS to come to Bangladesh, as if MBS has not much else to do.

I thought it's Hasan Mahmud not Inu who invited MBS to visit Bangladesh

 

[Saif]

Why China won’t fight the Houthis

The current turmoil in the Middle East is not bad news for China.

www.thedailystar.net

Why China won’t fight the Houthis​

Chinese policy in the Middle East is shaped by two factors: China's threat perceptions and its strategic calculus regarding its great power competition with the United States. And when it comes to dealing with the US, China's approach comes down to three "nos": no cooperation, no support, and no confrontation. This credo underlies China's decision not to push back against the Iran-backed Houthis as they carry out drone and missile attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.

The Red Sea attacks—a response to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza—have not directly threatened Chinese ships, and the Houthis insist this will not change: neither Chinese or Russian vessels will be targeted, a senior Houthi official declared last month, as long as they are not connected with Israel. But the attacks will still affect China's economic interests, and not only because of the need to avoid links with Israel. (COSCO, China's largest shipping conglomerate, has already been forced to suspend all shipping to Israel, owing to security concerns.)

The identification of ships (or their flag countries) is not always straightforward, and shipping that affects China's interests can still be targeted. But avoiding the area is costly. The Red Sea is one of the most sensitive chokepoints for world trade. If Chinese ships heading to Europe must circle around the Cape of Good Hope, rather than following the traditional route through the Suez Canal, a 26-day journey grows to 36 days and adds significantly to costs.

Longer shipping routes could also raise import prices, potentially fuelling inflation in China; if oil prices are affected, China's economy—already in the doldrums—will come under even more pressure. More broadly, continued shipping disruptions will hamper China's efforts to boost its economy by strengthening external trade.

So, whether they target Chinese vessels directly or not, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping could undermine China's economic recovery. And things could get much worse: if Iran deepens its involvement in the conflict between the Houthis and the US-led coalition that is launching strikes against them, the Strait of Hormuz could be affected, threatening China's energy supplies.

Yet, for now, China does not seem to be treating the threat posed by the Houthis as either immediate or acute. Yes, Chinese officials have reportedly urged their Iranian counterparts to pressure the Houthis to curb their attacks. But, while China has some influence over Iran, it hardly controls Iranian policy. Nor is Iran fully in control of the Houthis, despite being their main backer. Given this—and contrary to what the US apparently thinks—China's ability to rein in the Houthis diplomatically is limited.

And China is unlikely to go much further. Since Chinese strategists tend to view developments in the Middle East through the lens of Sino-American relations, even regional instability might not appear all bad to China.

Among Chinese experts, there is no shortage of schadenfreude watching the US being forced to back Israel, at the cost of its strategic relationships with Muslim countries in the region. And China can only benefit from its great-power rivalry being sucked into a conflict in the Middle East, at a time when it is already heavily invested in the Ukraine war.

To be sure, China does not appear to be plotting to exploit America's distractedness, say, by making a move on Taiwan. But it does relish the decline of US credibility and leadership. The longer the US stands by Israel, the more opportunity China will have to consolidate its ties with other Middle Eastern countries, and the more credible China's alternative approach to regional security will appear.

Under no circumstances will China join the US-led coalition against the Houthis, not only because of the first "no," but also because this would upend its own delicate balancing act between Israel and the Arab world, and between Sunni and Shia Muslims. The fact remains, however, that the Houthis' activities in the Red Sea are costing China. So, what are China's options?

One possible response is to deploy naval escorts for cargo ships, as China has been doing in the Gulf of Aden since 2008. But the Gulf of Aden escorts—part of a counter-piracy effort—are deployed on the basis of a mandate from the United Nations: Security Council Resolution 1846. Without such a mandate, the Chinese have been reluctant to pursue similar actions in the Red Sea, though they have recently begun to do so.

But, for China, the easiest and most politically convenient response to the current Middle East crisis lies elsewhere. The key is to blame the turmoil since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel—the event that triggered the current conflict—on the failure of the US and Israel to achieve a two-state solution with the Palestinians and to treat such a deal as the precondition for any practical resolution to the ongoing crisis. China knows well that reaching a two-state solution is highly unlikely to happen anytime soon, not least because it would fundamentally change Israel's national-security outlook and that of the entire Middle East. ​

---

Yun Sun is a senior fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center.​

 

[Saif]

The Implications of the Israel-Hamas War for Bangladesh: An American perspective

Where does this new war leave Bangladesh?

www.thedailystar.net

Geopolitical Insights​

The Implications of the Israel-Hamas War for Bangladesh: An American perspective​

We dedicate this issue of our new weekly page, Geopolitical Insights, to offer perspectives on the devastating conflict erupting in the Middle East.

This picture taken on October 11, 2023 shows an aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City. Photo: AFP

The Israel-Hamas war, now in its third week, broke out at a moment when global geopolitics were already in a state of deep churn.

The world had experienced, over a period of just two years, multiple black swans – a term famously coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that refers to events that are wholly unforeseen and have massive ripple effects. First came the COVID pandemic, and then Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These two shocks slammed the globe amid intensifying great power competition, toxic nationalism, growing refugee crises, and worsening climate change effects – among other destabilising developments.

And now comes this new war. Because of the legacy of conflict in the Middle East in recent decades, it's not a total shock. But it is still difficult to grapple with Israel's massive intelligence failure, the horrific scale of Hamas's terrorism on October 7, the uncompromisingly brutal Israeli retaliation, and above all the immense human toll.
​

With Washington focused intently on the war, and also facing allegations of moral hypocrisy for failing to object to Israel's brutalities – some experts call them war crimes – against Palestinians, Dhaka might have hoped it would get a respite from the Biden administration's relentless pressure campaign on rights and democracy in Bangladesh. But it wasn't meant to be.

— Michael Kugelman​

Few countries will be unaffected, even if indirectly, by the war. There will be economic implications, especially global oil price spikes and impacts on energy trade. There will be security implications, from new terrorism threats to public unrest sparked by large and angry protests.

The jury is still out on the conflict's geopolitical impacts, but so far this much is true: Washington – and many of its allies and partners – won't be advantaged by a long war. The conflict has upended a new US vision of the Middle East, which revolves around a region that becomes a locus for trade, connectivity and infrastructure development with deeper links to Europe and South Asia. Washington wants to operationalise that vision by stitching together new integrative mechanisms – from the India-Israel-UAE-US quad to the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. But these initiatives require stability and cooperation to succeed. The war delivers a tragic reminder that both remain elusive, even with less conflict in the region and new peace deals between Israel and some of its neighbors over the last few years.

Additionally, the war has diverted Washington's attention away from the Indo-Pacific and prompted the Biden administration to strengthen its force posture in the Mideast. This change, while likely temporary, may rekindle longstanding doubts in many Indo-Pacific capitals about Washington's true commitment to a rebalance to the region – and risk undermining very real recent progress toward that goal, including the implementation of a US Indo-Pacific strategy.

Furthermore, America's competitors benefit. With Washington and many of its European and Asian allies focused laser-like on the conflict, Moscow and Beijing will have opportunities to test a distracted Washington in Ukraine, or in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, respectively. South Korea has gone so far as to publicly threaten to suspend a military agreement with North Korea so that it can scale up surveillance of its neighbor, because Seoul fears Pyongyang may be tempted to do to South Korea what Hamas did to Israel. Meanwhile, Iran benefits because the war ends any immediate chances of new normalisation agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors linked to the Abraham Accords, which Tehran has long rejected and Washington seeks to expand.

Not to mention, US competitors can exploit the rage that has erupted against the United States among publics in the Middle East and beyond about Washington's firm backing of Israel during the war despite the latter's brutal tactics against Palestinian civilians. They can point to this as another – and especially egregious – case of the US failing to uphold its oft-stated intention to champion moral causes abroad.

All this said, the war has generated far more solidarity among Western capitals than has been the case with their reactions to the provocations of Russia or China. (Many of them still depend on energy imports from Moscow and broader trade with Beijing).

That India has embraced the West's position also helps Washington and its Western partners. New Delhi will further strengthen a relationship with Israel that has been expanding for years – and especially during Narendra Modi's time in power.

Elsewhere in the Global South (and, to be sure, among large portions of the public in the West), reactions to the war have focused more on the plight of the Palestinians, the need for a cease-fire, and the imperative of a Palestinian state. These reactions are driven by various factors, depending on the country. They include a lack of formal ties with Israel; deep historical links to the Palestinians, especially through the Non-Aligned Movement; a preference to side with the perceived strongest moral position; hostility to the policies of the US, one of Israel's staunchest allies; and, in the Global South's many nonaligned capitals, a desire to avoid taking a position espoused by many within the Western alliance system.

Consequently, the war could deepen policy divides not only between the West and the Muslim world, but also between the West and the Global South. That latter schism is already considerable, due to triggers ranging from climate change mitigation financing to patent rights for pharmaceuticals.

Where does this all leave Bangladesh? Dhaka has emphasised the need for an "urgent cease-fire" and co-sponsored an ultimately unsuccessful UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to hostilities. Like so many countries, Bangladesh gains little from a long war, and especially because of the deleterious economic implications – and these will become even more serious if it expands into a regional conflict. Bangladesh relies heavily on oil from the Gulf, and the Middle East is a key destination for its textile exports. Bangladesh central bank data from earlier this year showed that two thirds of Bangladesh out-migration was to the Middle East, and that the Gulf region accounted by far for the largest source of remittances to Bangladesh.

Another ominous development for Dhaka is that the war is intensifying great power rivalry. Russia and China have thrown their support behind the Palestinians (even though both still have cordial relations with Israel). This will also bring them closer to Iran – another US rival, and a country already moving closer to both Moscow and Beijing well before the war began. Washington and New Delhi are seemingly lining up on one side of the conflict, and Beijing and Moscow on the other. This new fault line means geopolitical competition will grow even fiercer, exacerbating Bangladesh's challenge of balancing its relations with all four countries.

With Washington focused intently on the war, and also facing allegations of moral hypocrisy for failing to object to Israel's brutalities – some experts call them war crimes – against Palestinians, Dhaka might have hoped it would get a respite from the Biden administration's relentless pressure campaign on rights and democracy in Bangladesh. But it wasn't meant to be. Last week, a senior US official, Afreen Akhter, visited Dhaka and reiterated longstanding U.S. messaging about the importance of free and fair elections.

Clearly, even amid the war and so much global churn, some things have remained the same. That includes Washington's ongoing efforts to make Bangladesh a core focus of its values-based foreign policy.​

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Michael Kugelman is director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC.​

 

[Bilal9]

I thought it's Hasan Mahmud not Inu who invited MBS to visit Bangladesh

Kheyal kori nai bhai. Too many distractions.

 

[Old School]

Kheyal kori nai bhai. Too many distractions.

When two wild wolves fight, can a small, harmless animal mediate? How does the idea develop?

 

[Bilal9]

When two wild wolves fight, can a small, harmless animal mediate? How does the idea develop?

Rather useless initiative, as I mentioned. Time waster.

Bangladesh foreign policy should be restricted to maximizing export revenue, simple enough.

 

[Old School]

Rather useless initiative, as I mentioned. Time waster.

Bangladesh foreign policy should be restricted to maximizing export revenue, simple enough.

And foreign direct investments too.

 

[Saif]

Kheyal kori nai bhai. Too many distractions.

You have been excused

 

[Bilal9]

And foreign direct investments too.

Yes of course. Any grandiose plan for Bangladesh to play in the geopolitical arena is a fool's errand, nothing more.

As we say in Bengali, small-time Adrak-seller should not worry about port news and shipping movements (Adar byaparir jahaazer khobor nia luv nai).

We are not at that stage yet.

 

[Saif]

Can nothing stop Netanyahu’s genocidal mission?

For the past five months, those with a conscience have been asking: what will it take for Israel to stop its genocide against Palestinians?

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Can nothing stop Netanyahu’s genocidal mission?​

Israel must agree to a ceasefire immediately

For the past five months, those with a conscience have been asking: what will it take for Israel to stop its genocide against Palestinians? The UN's repeated calls for humanitarian action, mass protests across the world, and even the US pointing fingers at the country—all have, so far, failed to deter Israel. And now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that his state will push on with its offensive "against Hamas," intending to ravage the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Far from changing his stance, Netanyahu seems even more determined. "There is international pressure and it's growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks," he said. "We need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war." He added that Israel must push back against a "calculated attempt" to blame it for Hamas' crimes. This begs the question: how are killing over 30,000 Palestinians (mostly women and children), instigating a potential famine, and turning a whole region into rubble not Israel's crimes?​

​

With Ramadan just a few days away, the whole world is hoping for an end to this atrocity. Unfortunately, talks of a ceasefire still show no sign of progress, as both Hamas and Israel refuse to capitulate. Hamas has given certain conditions: a ceasefire must be in place before hostages are freed, Israeli forces must leave Gaza, and all Gazans must be able to return to homes they have fled. Israel, however, merely wants a pause in fighting to get hostages out of Gaza and more aid in, and says it will not end its onslaught before Hamas is "eliminated." In short, Israel has proposed a delay of Palestinian deaths—an insult more than an offer. And yet, US President Joe Biden has said the deal is in the hands of Hamas.
History has shown how Israeli oppression ramps up during Ramadan. This year, the tyranny is on a whole new scale, as Netanyahu has announced that there will be no peace during this holy month. It's a depressing irony that right before the month of fasting, a large portion of Gaza's population is on the brink of famine, according to UN agencies. And it's infuriating when one reads that for Israel, this is merely a strategic "starvation campaign." As one UN expert put it, "Israel is not only denying and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel is destroying the food system in Gaza."

For 1.4 million Palestinians, this might just be the worst Ramadan they will have ever witnessed. For the sake of so many innocent, helpless, and unfortunate lives, we sincerely hope Israel will discover some humanity in itself, and a miracle will take place in the form of a ceasefire.​

 

[Saif]

Two-state solution for lasting peace highlighted in Munich conference

Top international organisations and government officials called for a permanent settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the ongoing 60th Munich Security Conference, saying that only the two-state solution can make the region achieve lasting security....

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Two-state solution for lasting peace highlighted in Munich conference
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha/ Xinhua . MUNICH, Germany | Published: 12:08, Feb 18,2024

-- BSS photo.

Top international organisations and government officials called for a permanent settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the ongoing 60th Munich Security Conference, saying that only the two-state solution can make the region achieve lasting security.

Addressing the conference at its opening ceremony on Friday, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for peace and better global order, highlighting the two-state solution to the crisis.


He said that the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire are the only way to massively scale up aid delivery in Gaza, and thus will lay the foundation for concrete and irreversible steps towards a two-state solution.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, expressed strong concern over the humanitarian situation and the wider consequences for the region. He emphasized the need to lower regional tensions and promote international efforts towards a two-state solution.

During a meeting here with Guterres, Borrell also underlined the need for increased EU cooperation with the UN in striving towards a two-state solution.


In his address at the conference, German chancellor Olaf Scholz also supported the two-state solution, saying that is the key for both Israel and Palestine to get out of the conflict and have a peaceful future.

Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at a penal discussion that eventually, there has to be a permanent fix, a long-term fix to the conflict, otherwise ‘we’re going to see a recurrence.’

‘India has long believed in a two-state solution. We have maintained that position for many decades. And I think today many more countries in the world feel that not just the two-state solution is necessary, but it is more urgent than it was before,’ he said.

Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told the audience at the MSC that he was firmly convinced that the only pathway towards security and stability for everyone in the region is through a Palestinian state.

Addressing a panel discussion on the Middle East situation, Faisal said that the greater the consensus in the international community on the two-state solution, the closer the world will get to it.

‘We agree that the two-state solution is the right solution. And it’s now time to put all of our efforts into making that happen,’ he stressed, adding that ‘we cannot hold the future of our region, the future of our generations hostage to politics or ideology, and we must push to move forward.’

Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said at the panel discussion that part of the reasons behind the failure of talks on the two-state solution in the past was the lack of political will.

‘I think we are totally committed and convinced that this is the only solution, a viable solution that can bring the region out of this cycle of violence and create normal conditions for everyone to prosper and to live in peace,’ he said.

Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that what’s happening now represents ‘a wake-up call’ that the situation was not sustainable and ‘we need to step up and to look at a better future for the people in the region.’

The two-state solution guarantees an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.​

 

[Saif]

Prof Yunus for urgent action to create Palestine state

Calling upon all parties to cease hostilities, Nobel Laureate professor Muhammad Yunus in a statement on Sunday said that the solution to the long standing...

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Prof Yunus for urgent action to create Palestine state
Staff Correspondent | Published: 21:29, Oct 22,2023

Nobel Laureate professor Muhammad Yunus

Calling upon all parties to cease hostilities, Nobel Laureate professor Muhammad Yunus in a statement on Sunday said that the solution to the long standing conflict between Israel and Palestine lies in the creation of two states in keeping with a United Nations resolution.

‘The solution right now is the creation of two states something which the United Nations has a resolution on but which remains unimplemented. There is no way to escape from this resolution if we want to bring peace to the region,’ he said.

Underlining the need for creating the state of Palestine with extreme urgency, he said that the key actor in bringing this to reality was the United States.

‘If the US moves fast others will follow. The Biden administration must lead the world on this vital and urgent issue without delay,’ he made the appeal in the statement sent by the Yunus Centre in Dhaka.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine was a very old problem which has become much more complicated now because of the treatment that the people of Palestine have been receiving from Israel, Professor Yunus mentioned.

‘It has been brewing over time and suddenly recently it became very explosive and unacceptable against any civilised standard,’ said the statement.

It said the top-most priority right now was to implement the long ignored UN resolution on creating two states.

‘Otherwise we don't know where this conflict will lead us to. It has the potential to set the whole region on fire and suck in a larger part of the world into that fire,’ said the Nobel peace prize winner economist and entrepreneur.

He urgently called upon ‘all parties engaged in the conflict to immediately cease hostilities, ensure the safety and well-being of the innocent children and civilians caught in the midst of this crisis’.

‘It is imperative to facilitate and expedite the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the suffering population. It is time to focus on saving human lives, protect dignity and get to work on a permanent solution,’ he said.

He called upon all concerned to join hands to put an end to the suffering, ensure uninterrupted humanitarian access, and foster an environment conducive to meaningful peace negotiations and work out the modalities to create Palestine state at the fastest pace.

‘In this day and age, we should collectively recognise that war and bloodshed are inconsistent with the values and progress of our modern civilisation,’ he said.

Professor Yunus said that the world was watching and it was their shared responsibility to work towards a future where both Palestine and Israel can co-exist in harmony and peace together with friendly collaboration.​

 

[Saif]

The real Gaza death toll

SINCE the Hamas raid penetrated the multi-tiered Israeli border security on October 7, 2023, (an unexplained collapse of Israel’s...

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The real Gaza death toll
Published: 00:00, Mar 09,2024

A medic carries an injured Palestinian child into Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 11, 2023. — Palestinian News & Information Agency/Atia Darwish

Ralph Nader says it matters greatly whether the aggregate toll so far, and counting, is three, four, five, six times more than the Gaza health ministry’s undercount


SINCE the Hamas raid penetrated the multi-tiered Israeli border security on October 7, 2023, (an unexplained collapse of Israel’s defensive capabilities), 2.3 million utterly defenseless Palestinians in the tiny crowded Gaza enclave have been on the receiving end of over 65,000 bombs and missiles plus non-stop tank shelling and snipers.


The extreme right-wing Netanyahu regime has enforced its declared siege of, in its genocidal words, ‘no food, no water, no electricity, no fuel, no medicine.’

The relentless bombing has destroyed apartment buildings, marketplaces, refugee camps, hospitals, clinics, ambulances, bakeries, schools, mosques, churches, roads, electricity networks, critical water mains — just about everything.

The US-equipped Israeli war machine has even uprooted agricultural fields, including thousands of olive trees on one farm; bulldozed many cemeteries; and bombed civilians fleeing on Israeli orders, while obstructing the few trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egypt.


With virtually no healthcare left, no medications, and infectious diseases spreading especially among infants, children, the infirm, and the elderly, can anybody believe that the fatalities have just gone over 30,000?

With 5,000 babies born every month into the rubble, their mothers wounded and without food, healthcare, medicine, and clean water for any of their children, severe scepticism about the Hamas’s health ministry’s official count is warranted.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, which he helped over the years, have a common interest in lowballing the death and injury toll. But for different reasons. Hamas keeps the figures low to reduce being accused by its own people of not protecting them, and not building shelters. Hamas grossly underestimated the savage war crimes by the vengeful, occupying Israeli military superpower fully and unconditionally backed by the U.S. military superpower.

The health ministry is intentionally conservative, citing that its death toll came from reports only of those named as deceased by hospitals and morgues. But as the weeks turned into months, blasted, disabled hospitals and morgues cannot keep up with the bodies, or cannot count those slain laying on roadsides in allies and beneath building debris. Yet the Health Ministry remains conservative and the “official” rising civilian fatality and injury count continues to be uncritically reported by both friend and foe of this devastating Israeli state terrorism.



Predictions of human catastrophe

IT WAS especially astonishing to see the most progressive groups and writers routinely use the same figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza as did the governments and outside groups backing the one-sided war on Gaza. All this despite predictions of a human catastrophe in the Gaza Strip almost every day since October 7, 2023, by arms of the United Nations, other besieged international relief agencies on the ground, eyewitness accounts by medical personnel and many Israeli human rights groups and brave local journalists in that strip, the geographic size of Philadelphia. (Unguided Western and Israeli reporters and journalists are not allowed to enter Gaza by the Israeli government.)

Then came the December 29, 2023, opinion piece in The Guardian by the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, Devi Sridhar. She predicted half a million deaths in 2024 if conditions continue unabated.


In recent days, the situation has become more dire. In the March 2, 2024, Washington Post, reporter Ishaan Tharoor writes:

‘The bulk of Gaza’s more than 2 million people face the prospect of famine — a state of affairs that constitutes the fastest decline in a population’s nutrition status ever recorded, according to aid workers. Children are starving at the fastest rate the world has ever known. Aid groups have been pointing to Israel restricting the flow of assistance into the territory as a major driver of the crisis. Some prominent Israeli officials openly champion stymying these transfers of aid.’

Tharoor quotes Jan Egeland, chief of the Norwegian Refugee Council: ‘We must be clear: civilians in Gaza are falling sick from hunger and thirst because of Israel’s entry restrictions’, and ‘Life-saving supplies are being intentionally blocked, and women and children are paying the price.’

Martin Griffiths, the United Nations lead humanitarian officer, said, ‘Life is draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed.’

UN secretary general António Guterres, according to the Post, warned of an ‘“unknown number of people” — believed to be in the tens of thousands — lying under the rubble of buildings brought down by Israeli strikes.’

Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said, ‘All people in Gaza are at imminent risk of famine. Almost all are drinking salty and contaminated water. Healthcare across the territory is barely functioning’, and ‘Just imagine what this means for the wounded, and people suffering infectious-disease outbreaks… many are already believed to be starving.’

UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee, the Palestinian Red Crescent, and Doctors Without Borders are all relating that the same catastrophic conditions are getting worse fast.

Yet, and get this, in this article, the Post still stuck with the ‘more than 30,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the ongoing war began.’

Just like the entire mass media, many governments, even the independent media and critics of the war would have us accept that between 98 per cent and 99 per cent of Gaza’s entire population has survived — albeit the sick, injured, and more Palestinians about to die. This is lethally improbable!

From accounts of people on the ground, videos and photographs of deadly episode after episode, plus the resultant mortalities from blocking or smashing the crucial necessities of life, a more likely estimate, in my appraisal, is that at least 200,000 Palestinians must have perished by now and the toll is accelerating by the hour.


Imagine Americans, if this powerful US-made weaponry was fired on the besieged, homeless, trapped people of Philadelphia, do you think that only 30,000 of that city’s 1.5 million people would have been killed?

Daily circumstantial evidence of the deliberate Israeli targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructures requires more reliable epidemiological estimates of casualties.

It matters greatly whether the aggregate toll so far, and counting, is three, four, five, six times more than the health ministry’s undercount. It matters for elevating the urgency for a permanent cease-fire, and direct and massive humanitarian aid by the US and other countries, bypassing the sadistic cruelty against innocent families of the Israeli siege. It matters for the columnists and editorial writers who have been self-censoring, with some, like the Post’s Charles Lane, fictionally claiming that Israel’s military doesn’t ‘intentionally target civilians.’ It matters for accountability under international law.

Above all, it lets weak Secretary of State Antony Blinken and duplicitous president Biden be less servile when Netanyahu dismisses the low death toll by taunting them: What about Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

As a percentage of the total population being killed, Gaza can expose the Israeli ruling racist extremists to a stronger rebuttal for ending US co-belligerent complicity in this never-to-be-forgotten slaughter of mostly children and women. (The terrifying PTSD on civilians, especially children, will continue for years.)

Respecting the more accurate casualty toll of Palestinian children, mothers, and fathers presses harder for permanent cease-fires and the process of recovery and reparations for the survivors of their holocaust.

​