Criminal silence

One finds a lack of vocabulary to condemn the insane excesses that Israel commits on Palestinians, and still has the audacity to get away at the hands of the global community. The maiming of hapless Gazans as they desperately came out to collect a belated and insignificant succor doled out to them from the world at large is tantamount to crime against humanity. The tragic site resembled a warzone with dead and injured Palestinians lying all around for the only crime that they wanted a fair share of ration and water before it ran out.

On one hand, the Jewish state obstructs delivery of aid to the besieged enclave that is on the verge of extinction, and on the other it indulges in highhandedness when the commodities make their way to the hungry mouths after weeks. This is nothing but arrogance of a diminishing power that has lost its military clout in a 12-day conflict with Iran, and is in search of excuses to prolong its occupation by shunting out the uprooted.

The killing of 93 people by Israeli troops should not be another footnote in history. According to the UN, more than 800 Palestinians have been shot dead since May as they scrambled for aid. Eyewitness accounts that soldiers opted for a killing-spree as they were on hunting, criminally mindless of dealing with unarmed human entities. This notion confirms genocide at work in every aspect of Tel Aviv's interaction with the Palestinians, and cannot be condoned.

Isn't it high time for the civilised West to ask Benjamin Netanyahu's barbaric dispensation as to what is the role of sniper soldiers, tanks and artillery to control the civilians who are short of two-square meals, denied of civic amenities and are going hungry? And to make it worse, deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with more than a million people going shelter-less, and others displaced to the southern coastal detention camps. Yet, Israel hopes to strike some kind of a deal with Hamas, with the dubious intention of seeking release of its hostages. This is cowardice at its zenith.