This edition of the Wire comes to you with more urgency than we have ever felt. The Israeli government has declared a genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza, a new level of crisis.
Israeli officials are openly planning to open “the gates of hell” on Gaza, referring to the 2 million Palestinians trapped inside as “human animals.” The Israeli military has launched non-stop airstrikes and bombing over Gaza. Our partners tell us of entire neighborhoods being flattened, schools and hospitals being bombed, apartment buildings being brought down.
The Israeli government has shut off all electricity to Gaza. Hospitals cannot save lives, the internet will collapse, people will have no phones to communicate with the outside world. Gaza will be plunged into darkness as Israel turns its neighborhoods to rubble. Still worse, Israel has openly stated an intention to commit mass atrocities and even genocide, with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying the Israeli response will “reverberate for generations.” All of this with the full throated support of the U.S.
On Friday, the Israeli military called for all civilians of Northern Gaza — over one million people, including half a million children — to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground invasion. According to the UN, it is impossible to evacuate everyone with power supplies cut and food and water in the Palestinian enclave running short after Israel placed Gaza under total siege. The UN said this invasion would have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
For 16 years Palestinians blockaded in Gaza have lived in the most densely populated place in the world. That density is set to double, if one million Palestinians are pushed from the North into the South. We shudder to think what will happen if the north is vacated: Israel could annex the territory. Another Nakba could be imminent.
This is urgent: drop everything.
As Israeli politicians broadcast their intent to commit war crimes and massacres of Palestinians, we need to drop everything and raise our voices as loud as we can. Take all three actions below to tell Congress and the New York Times: to prevent a genocide in Gaza, we need a ceasefire now.
