There Is No Good Reason To Oppose A Ceasefire In Gaza

The rest of the world sees what the United States still does not: Israel’s actions in Gaza can only succeed in producing an endless cycle of violence and suffering.

By Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs

The words “humanitarian crisis” do not suffice to describe what is happening in Gaza. The U.N. tells us that over half the population is now starving to death, with 9 out of 10 Gazans not being able to eat every day. Over 18,400 Palestinians have been killed, and many more wounded and traumatized. Virtually everyone has fled their homes, and over a million people are huddling in U.N. facilities. In some shelters, 600 people share a single toilet. Even there they are not safe, since Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, and U.N. facilities. (Over 100 U.N. workers have been killed, the deadliest attack on U.N. workers in the history of the organization.)

The basic fabric of society is breaking down. The stories are sickening. The images are harrowing. The World Health Organization has warned that disease outbreaks could prove even deadlier than the airstrikes. The E.U.’s top diplomat has called the situation “catastrophic” and “apocalyptic.” The U.N. has warned of a “tipping point” where a lot more people will start to die from the effects of sustained deprivation of basic needs. The bombings of northern Gaza are comparable in their destructiveness to the bombings of Dresden and Hamburg in World War II, and Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times says we need to look back to the Rwandan genocide to see a comparable civilian death toll.

Ahmed Moghrabi, a doctor in one of Gaza’s last remaining functional hospitals, pleaded with the world to stop the violence:

What is going [on] here actually is real massacres all over. If you see the pictures and the videos, actually, you will be shocked.… [N]o words can describe what is going [on] here. What is going here actually is a real genocide.… [H]undreds and thousands of people…are passing away every day because of these attacks. They’re attacking schools. They’re attacking church, mosques, civilians’ areas…Everywhere, they’re attacking. Oh my god, I can’t describe what is going [on] here. It’s massacres. Massacres, what is going [on] here. The entire families are wiped out…I developed [a] psychological disorder to see these children actually…how to say it?—like—how to say?—I don’t know how. They are burned ’til bone. They are burned ’til bone. Children. If you see my [inaudible], you will see all these, you know, horrible—it’s horror, horror, horror, what is going [on] here. My god, I hope this will end soon.… We are living in [a] big prison under siege, actually, and nobody listen[s] to us…. We are human being[s]. Me, like you, I’m a human being. I’m a human being. I want to live in peace. I want a better future for my children…. You give Israel these mass destruction weapons. But on the other hand, nobody gives us even food. Here, I can’t find food, clean water. Me, as a surgeon, I can’t find clean water to drink. I can’t find food. I eat only once a day…. I can’t afford my children[’s] food. I can’t see my children, because I can’t provide simple…food for living. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t provide this food to my children. We eat once a day, simple rice. You know, my little daughter yesterday, 2 years old, she asked me — you know, she asked me apple, an apple. There’s nothing here. Nothing here. 

We are dying from starvation. From everything, we are dying now. All over, actually, they send these rockets over our heads everywhere, every time. Please, please stop this war against us. Please stop the genocide against us. Stop this war. Please, please, I beg you.