UN Chief Antonio Guterres called for a ceasefire in Gaza and requested for the release of all the hostages being held by Hamas on Monday concerning the beginning of the holy month of the Muslims. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, sticks to his country’s plan of attacking Rafah, the southern city in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas on 7th October. As a result, at least 67 Palestinians were killed in Gaza by Israeli air strikes on the first day of Ramadan surpassing the basic standards of humanity. Gazan Health Ministry stated that the death toll has risen to more than 31,112 since the war began, two-thirds of which are women and children.
Amidst continuous bombings and bloodbaths, the Gazans managed to celebrate a mirthless Ramadan by holding fast and cooking meals for iftar with the limited food sources accessible to them. Prayers were conducted in the middle of the ruins of destroyed buildings. The displaced Palestinians decorated their temporary tents with fairy lights, balloons and colorful flags, and children were seen dancing while a man sang in celebration of the occasion.
The scarcity of food, aid, resources, clean water, and basic amenities is increasing daily with very little aid being sent to the territory. The situation has been worsening as the civilians face multiple hostilities in the backdrop of famine, starvation, diseases and death. According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, 25 deaths have been registered so far due to malnutrition and dehydration and the majority of them are children. About 80% of the total population of Gaza, had been dislodged from their houses and thousands of them have been forced into starvation since the war started for about five months from now.
UN Chief on ceasefire
Guterres, the UN Chief who had been appealing for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for a long time said that life-saving aid is hardly entering Gaza. He also remarked that the whole world is watching and the crisis should not be overlooked at any cost.
Joe Biden’s statement on the Rafah attack
The United States has provided the Israeli government with military support and even prevented the international appeal for a ceasefire by vetoing the decision at the United Nations while also urging it not to harm civilians as much as possible. US President Joe Biden on Monday opposed the decision of Netanyahu to attack Rafah saying that it would cross the “red line” although he ensured that the US would continue to provide military aid to Israel.
German Chancellor wants ceasefire
At a news conference with the Malaysian Prime Minister, Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, has also called for a longer humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. He has always been on the side of the Israeli government and supported its war against Hamas but has simultaneously urged for better aid supplies and encouraged opting towards solving the conflict between the two states.
What the displaced civilians had to say
In Rafah, where half of Gaza’s population (about 1.5 million people) has taken shelter people could only have “canned food and beans” as their iftar meal after breaking a whole day of fasting, a refugee named Mohammad al-Masry said adding that they didn’t prepare anything as they do not have anything. AFP reports that another refugee Om Muhammad Abu Matar had said that this year Ramadan had “the taste of blood and misery, separation and oppression”.
