Gaza:
Down with Netanyahu and Biden’s War!

Jan 1, 2024

This article is translated from the December 27 issue, #2891 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the revolutionary workers group of that name active in France.

On Friday, December 22, the U.N. Security Council called for "large-scale” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. To avoid a U.S. veto, there was no mention of a call for a ceasefire to enable the distribution of aid.

The resolution could therefore only be adopted by aligning itself with the position of the United States, which is in fact unwavering support for the State of Israel, whatever the atrocities and massacres perpetrated.

Already hard hit by poverty as a result of the Israeli blockade since 2007, the situation of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly catastrophic. The war has already claimed more than 20,000 lives and left at least 50,000 wounded. 1.9 million people have been forced to leave their homes and are wandering from place to place, sleeping in tents while the few public buildings still standing are running out of space.

As the bombardments devastated the fishing port and livestock farms, Gazans began to eat the animals they could no longer feed, and then all the stalls emptied. Drinking water was in short supply, with two of the three access roads cut off and pumps and desalination plants unable to operate for lack of fuel and electricity. According to the World Food Program, 93% of the population is "acutely food insecure," and the first deaths from hunger are likely to occur in the first few days of February.

With the flow of goods suspended, the people of Gaza find themselves entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. The pace of aid deliveries has been cut by a factor of three since the beginning of October, due to the closure of crossing points and the attitude of the Israeli army, which, as one MEP testified, sometimes allows only one truck through in a day. The convoys are then confronted with the absence of a safe route for distributing food supplies.

"We’ll be stepping up the fighting in the days ahead, and it’s going to be a long war with no end in sight," declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 25. He himself has a vested interest in prolonging the war, which enables him to stay in power by silencing criticism among the Israeli population. Demonstrations calling for the release of the hostages to be made more of a government priority show that his policy of all-out war does not enjoy unanimous support.

In an op-ed published by an American newspaper, Netanyahu detailed his war aims: "Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza demilitarized and Palestinian society de-radicalized." But the current destruction and massacres are aimed first and foremost at crushing the Palestinian population. And instead of destroying Hamas, they can only fuel feelings of hatred and the desire for revenge among Gazans and Palestinians as a whole.

For seventy-five years, all Israeli governments have pursued a policy of terror against the Palestinians, imposing oppression and denial of their rights. This has led to the current impasse, for which both peoples are paying dearly, first and foremost the Palestinians, but also the Israelis, to whom a leader like Netanyahu promises endless war, with the support of the imperialist powers.