Abyss of violence

Death toll in the Gaza conflict crossed over 21,000 as there is no sign of any respite in the war that began on October 7. As the curtains of the calendar year 2023 draws to an end, 2024 for this conflicting zone seems unending, with Israel vowing to intensify strikes. Initially, the extension of the truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict – brokered through intense indirect negotiations with mediators being countries like Qatar, the United States, and Egypt – indicated progress in ongoing negotiations, offering some relief to the people in Gaza and families in Israel. World Health Organisation officials visited hospitals across Gaza, detailing “harrowing accounts” of suffering shared by health workers and patients.

The weekly average of incidents since October 7 stands at 32, compared with 21 per week between January 1 and October 6, 2023. Israel, on December 27, 2023, said it is expanding combat operations in refugee camps as it targets Hamas. Israeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday and Palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths.

Almost all the media, across the world, have been emphatically addressing the deepening humanitarian crisis, urgently seeking global intervention, keeping in view the dire impact of the conflict on civilians, especially the most vulnerable (children and women), including the sick, elderly, and injured. The UN, too, addressed the urgent need to make diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire and enable humanitarian access to the affected areas.

With the ongoing hostilities after Israel's military cited a truce violation by Hamas, pointing to a projectile fired from Gaza in the final minutes of the agreed cease-fire, the engagement by air, sea and land has only increased — to such an extent that hospitals and refugee camps aren’t being spared by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly declined multiple requests from top security officials to discuss plans regarding governance of the Gaza Strip after the conflict with Hamas concludes, as per a Channel 12 report. The Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF chief of staff, and defense ministry directors sought a meeting to address post-war decisions, but all requests were allegedly denied. There are also claims that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant refused discussions on transitioning from high-intensity fighting to more targeted strikes on Hamas leaders. Additionally, Netanyahu is said to have hindered detailed talks on potential hostage-release deals with the Mossad.

At the COP28 summit, leaders including President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, expressed concerns over the Gaza conflict. Erdoğan denounced the loss of over 16,000 innocent Palestinian lives as a war crime and called for accountability under international law.

A report ‘Gaza Conflict: How Children’s Lives are Affected on Every Level’ emphasises the ongoing struggles, including limited access to essential goods, scarcity of water and food, a crumbling healthcare system, and heightened vulnerability to harm. The 2007 blockade imposed by Israel after Hamas' election had resulted in prolonged privation for the population, including now 18-year-olds who have faced overcrowding, shortages, conflict, and danger throughout their lives.

Despite these changes, Israel is still obligated under international law, specifically Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to ensure that the population of Gaza receives essential provisions like food, medicines, and other basic goods.

Since 2007, ‘Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP)’, a Palestinian organisation advocating for child rights, reveals that 1,189 Palestinian children in Gaza have lost their lives due to Israeli military actions. Beyond the immediate casualties, these conflicts have created persistent challenges to children's survival and well-being. Following each episode, Israel has imposed restrictions on Gaza, impeding the entry of crucial supplies such as construction materials, generators, and water through the primary commercial crossing—a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Additionally, a 2018 report from the RAND Corporation underscores water-related diseases as a major contributor to child mortality in Gaza, with constrained advanced medical care. The need for rehabilitative support increased in 2018 and 2019, particularly after children took part in the "great march of return," vis-à-vis Israeli forces retorting with live and rubber bullets. Despite sustaining life-altering injuries, including amputations, many children were denied permits to leave Gaza for crucial treatment. As of October 17, 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinian children have lost their lives, according to DCIP.

The ‘United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’ has reported a devastating toll in the ongoing conflict, with Israel's attacks leading to the tragic death of 4,104 children in Gaza within a month. The article ‘Is Israel’s Gaza war the deadliest conflict for children in modern times?’, by Sarah Shamim on Al Jazeera, highlights this alarming situation, emphasising an average of over 100 children being killed daily.

“The numbers are harrowing, and with violence not only continuing but expanding in Gaza right now, many more children remain at grave risk," says Jason Lee, Save the Children's Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Children worldwide bear the severe impacts of conflicts. The 2022 invasion in Ukraine resulted in 510 child deaths, averaging less than one per day over 20 months. Post-2003 US invasion, Iraq witnessed 3,119 child casualties, with over one child killed every two days from 2008 to 2022. Syria reported 12,000 child deaths since 2011, nearly three daily, while Yemen's 2015 conflict led to 3,774 verified child deaths, approximately four every three days. Afghanistan saw 8,099 child deaths from 2009 to 2020 due to the US-led intervention, averaging two children daily. In Gaza, where 47 per cent of the population are children, the disproportionately high child casualties emphasise the daily toll in global conflict zones.

While the number of tiny bodies wrapped in white shrouds and surrounded by grieving family members has only grown, as the conflict continues, humanitarian organisations, including the World Health Organisation and agencies that are part of the United Nations, must garner international pressure vis-à-vis backchannel operations to put an end to this unending mayhem.

Expert mediators and diplomatic negotiators must arrive at a comprehensive solution to the deep-rooted problems plaguing the region for decades to prevent further escalating humanitarian crises.

The writer is Programme Executive, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti. Views expressed are personal