Let’s Remember People In Gaza, Urges Priyanka Gandhi
Jan 2, 2024 | Pratirodh Bureau
The Congress leader alleged that today coal, electricity, ports and airports of the country are all with the friends of the prime minister
On Sunday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged people to remember “our brothers and sisters” in Gaza, while slamming the “so-called leaders of the world” for moving on “unperturbed in their quest for power and greed” and watching in silence.
In a post on New Year’s eve on ‘X’, the Congress general secretary said that the children of the people in Gaza are being “murdered mercilessly” while our children celebrate.
Priyanka Gandhi said, “As we celebrate the beginning of a new year and wish each other that love, peace, laughter and goodness should fill our lives, let us remember our brothers and sisters in Gaza who are facing the most unjust and inhuman assault on their right to life, dignity and freedom.”
She added, “While our children celebrate, their children are being murdered mercilessly. The so-called leaders of the world watch in silence and move on unperturbed in their quest for power and greed.”
The Congress leader said that there are millions of ordinary people who are raising their voices demanding an end to the horrific violence being perpetrated in Gaza, and those millions of people with brave hearts bring us hope for a new tomorrow. Priynaka Gandhi urged people to be one of them. She has been calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and has been vocal against the violence there.
An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, with clashes also taking place in the West Bank and Israel–Lebanon border. On that day, militant groups launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, marking the start of the most significant military escalation in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
After clearing Hamas militants, the Israeli military retaliated by conducting an extensive aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, followed by a large-scale ground invasion. The current hostilities constitute the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict, which is part of the broader Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, and around 500,000 Israelis have been internally displaced.
The war began when Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups targeted Israel in an operation they called “Al-Aqsa Flood” with a barrage of rockets, while around 3,000 militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier and attacked neighboring Israeli communities and military bases, resulting in the death of 695 Israeli civilians, 373 soldiers and 71 foreigners, giving a total of 1,139. The total includes an unknown number of deaths from friendly fire.
Hamas stated that its attack was in response to the “desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque“, the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, rising Israeli settler violence and recent escalations. An estimated 240 Israeli soldiers, civilians and foreigners were taken to the Gaza Strip as captives or hostages, with the stated goal of forcing Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.
Over the first six days, Israel dropped over 6,000 bombs on targets in Gaza, causing widespread destruction and thousands of civilian deaths. Experts blame the widespread use of heavy munitions, such as hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs, many of which are capable of killing or injuring people more than 1,000 feet away, for increasing casualties in the densely populated area.
Israel also imposed a blockade of the Gaza Strip, leading to accusations that Israel was using starvation as a weapon and forcing Gazans to drink contaminated, salty water. Israel then launched a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza with the stated goal of destroying Hamas, and controlling Gaza afterward. Freeing hostages held by Palestinian militants was another stated goal, although it rescued only one; Hamas reported that dozens more have been killed during the bombing of Gaza, while others have been killed by friendly fire.