Need for an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

The intransigence by the political leadership in Israel has seemingly plunged the Gaza Strip into a humanitarian catastrophe. Although the oppression faced by the Palestinian people is by no means new, civil society in several countries across Europe, South Asia, North America, and West Asia rose in protest in one of the largest anti-war mobilisations witnessed in recent times following the bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on 17 October.

A lot of misinformation was spread in the wake of this hospital bombing, where scores of healthcare professionals and patients, including many children, lost their lives. The Israeli leadership claimed this bombing to be the doing of Hamas, despite media reports stating that several hospitals in Gaza had received warnings of evacuation from the Israeli military. On 19 October, the ancient Greek Orthodox Church, which is the oldest functioning church in Gaza, was also reportedly bombed by Israel, citing pretexts that it had become a Hamas control centre. This church in Gaza City was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, including many Palestinian Christians, who sought temporary refuge there after several residential blocks in Gaza City had already been flattened by Israeli air strikes. Palestinian authorities claim that more than 5,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, including more than 2,000 children, and another 14,000 injured in this new round of hostilities.