Indian opposition leader hits out at int'l community over killings in Gaza

Senior leader of Congress party Priyanka Gandhi says 'shame on governments supporting destruction'

NEW DELHI:

Senior leader of Indian main opposition Indian Congress party on Monday hit out at the international community, calling the death toll of 10,000 from Israeli strikes on Gaza “a deplorable and disgraceful milestone.”

“…over 10,000 people killed in Gaza of which almost half are children. One child is being killed every ten minutes according to the WHO, and “now tiny babies had to be removed from their incubators due to lack of oxygen and were left to die,” Priyanka Gandhi, the party’s general secretary, wrote on X.

What a deplorable and disgraceful milestone…over 10,000 people killed in Gaza of which almost half are children. One child is being killed every ten minutes according to the WHO, and now tiny babies had to be removed from their incubators due to lack of oxygen and were left to…

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) November 13, 2023

Hitting out at the governments, she said: “Still, no shock to the conscience of those supporting this genocide, no ceasefire…just more bombs, more violence, more killings and more suffering.”

“Shame on the governments supporting this destruction. When is it going to be enough?” she wrote.

Israel has been carrying out relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip -- including on hospitals, residences, and houses of worship -- since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a cross-border attack on Oct. 7.

Since then, the number of deaths in the ongoing Israeli attacks has surpassed 11,100, including more than 8,000 women and children, as the war entered its 38th day on Monday.

Read also: Economic interests and India’s blanket support to Israel

The Israeli death toll is nearly 1,200, according to official figures.

Many world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have criticized the silence of the international community over the Israeli war on Gaza.

Despite traditionally supporting a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Oct. 7 offensive by Hamas that started the new conflict a series of "terrorist attacks."

Days later, after he spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Modi said he reiterated India’s “principled position” on the issue. India on Oct. 22 said it sent humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine.

During a top-level ministerial dialogue in the Indian capital New Delhi last week, India and the US extended “support for humanitarian pauses” in the besieged Gaza Strip.