We For Gaza

Gli Stati Uniti hanno stanziato miliardi per facilitare le espulsioni da Gaza.

Fonte. English  version

Di Richard Silverstein – 5 dicembre 2023

Immagine di copertina: Rifugiati in attesa di lasciare Gaza attraverso il valico di Rafah (Samer Abu Elouf/NY Times)

Joe Biden, il Segretario di Stato Blinken e la Vicepresidente Kamala Harris hanno tutti ripetuto le stesse richieste di Israele riguardo alla guerra in corso: nessuna appropriazione israeliana del territorio di Gaza per una zona cuscinetto e nessun “trasferimento forzato” della popolazione di Gaza:

“La Vicepresidente ha ribadito che in nessuna circostanza gli Stati Uniti permetteranno il trasferimento forzato di palestinesi da Gaza o dalla Cisgiordania”, si legge nella dichiarazione della Casa Bianca.

La parola chiave in quella frase è “forzato”. Senza leggerlo attentamente, si potrebbe pensare che gli Stati Uniti si oppongano alla Pulizia Etnica a Gaza. Ma non è così. Si oppone solo alla Pulizia Etnica forzata, che eufemizza come “rilocalizzazione”. Il risultato è che gli Stati Uniti non si oppongono alla ricollocazione volontaria. In altre parole, non abbiamo problemi con gli abitanti di Gaza che se ne vanno di loro spontanea volontà.

Ma che cosa significa “volontario”? Per Israele, significa chiunque lasci Gaza, non importa quale sia il motivo. Se hai una famiglia di 20 persone e la tua casa è stata bombardata e non hai cibo per nutrire i tuoi bambini e decidi che devi andartene è volontario? No certo che no. Ma Israele lo descriverebbe come tale. È come se una donna accusasse un uomo di stupro, mentre in sua difesa lo descrive come “consensuale”. Quando qualcuno fa qualcosa contro la propria volontà, non è volontario. Per qualcuno che si sente costretto a fare qualcosa, ciò non significa che voglia farlo.

Nel caso in cui qualcuno dubiti delle intenzioni dell’amministrazione Biden a questo riguardo, legga il linguaggio nel disegno di legge di aiuti supplementari da 106 miliardi di dollari (98 miliardi di euro) che fornisce aiuti militari e umanitari a Ucraina e Israele. DAWN (Democrazia per il Mondo Arabo) notò per la prima volta quanto fosse problematico:

Queste risorse sosterrebbero i civili sfollati e colpiti dal conflitto, compresi i rifugiati palestinesi a Gaza e in Cisgiordania, e risponderebbero ai potenziali bisogni degli abitanti di Gaza in fuga nei Paesi vicini. Ciò includerebbe anche i potenziali costi critici delle infrastrutture umanitarie necessari per fornire l’accesso a un sostegno di base e vitale alla popolazione rifugiata. Questa crisi potrebbe comportare uno sfollamento oltre il confine e un aumento dei bisogni umanitari regionali, e i finanziamenti potrebbero essere utilizzati per soddisfare le esigenze di programmi in evoluzione al di fuori di Gaza.

Perché gli abitanti di Gaza “fuggono nei Paesi vicini?” Chi li farebbe partire? L’uso del termine “fuggire” è in linea con l’idea che questi rifugiati lo farebbero volontariamente, per usare il termine di Harris.

Questa parte del disegno di legge complessivo sugli aiuti stanzia 14 miliardi di dollari (13 miliardi di euro) in trasferimenti di armi a Israele per perseguire il suo Genocidio in Palestina. Ma una parte di ciò potrebbe facilitare il “trasferimento volontario” di gran parte della popolazione di Gaza. A questo proposito, un piano ufficiale del Ministero dell’Intelligence israeliano stima che spedire 2,5 milioni di abitanti di Gaza in Egitto costerebbe dai 5 agli 8 miliardi di dollari (4,6 – 7,4 miliardi di euro). Sebbene gli Stati Uniti non abbiano necessariamente avviato questo particolare piano, certamente sarebbe necessaria una somma così consistente (o maggiore) per espellere “correttamente” la popolazione di Gaza.

Il New York Times ha riferito che Israele ha presentato a sei Paesi: Stati Uniti, Regno Unito, Emirati Arabi Uniti, Egitto, Giordania e presumibilmente Arabia Saudita (anche se il suo nome non è stato menzionato), un piano per “trasferire”, cioè espellere “centinaia di migliaia” di abitanti di Gaza.

Secondo sei alti diplomatici stranieri, Israele ha silenziosamente cercato di ottenere sostegno internazionale per il trasferimento di diverse centinaia di migliaia di civili da Gaza all’Egitto per la durata della sua guerra nel territorio.

Leader e diplomatici israeliani hanno proposto privatamente l’idea a diversi governi stranieri, definendola un’iniziativa umanitaria che consentirebbe ai civili di sfuggire temporaneamente ai pericoli di Gaza per rifugiarsi nei campi profughi nel deserto del Sinai, appena oltre il confine con il vicino Egitto.

In altre parole, Israele ha proposto di fare agli odierni rifugiati di Gaza esattamente quello che ha fatto a 1 milione di palestinesi durante la Nakba: espellerli nei campi profughi deserti di Gaza, Libano, Siria e Giordania. L’idea che questa espulsione durerebbe solo “per la durata della sua guerra nel territorio” è assurda. Una volta partiti non torneranno più. Gli abitanti di Gaza lo sanno. L’Egitto e la Giordania lo sanno. Ecco perché si sono rifiutati di lasciarsi convincere a seguire questa farsa.

Si noti che il linguaggio della proposta di aiuto statunitense è simile al piano israeliano. Entrambi sono inquadrati come un gesto umanitario per i rifugiati “in fuga dai pericoli di Gaza”. Per dove? Il deserto del Sinai, che ovviamente li aspetta a braccia aperte. Per non parlare degli stessi egiziani, da gente ospitale quale sono, che stenderebbero il tappeto di benvenuto per circa un milione di rifugiati affamati.

Non c’è quasi alcun dubbio che Israele e l’amministrazione Biden abbiano architettato questo piano insieme. È semplicemente sorprendente che gli Stati Uniti, che fanno mostra di rispettare i diritti umani a livello globale, li tradiscano in modo così eclatante.

Il professor Rashid Khalidi rende ancora più forte la tesi della collusione statunitense. In un’intervista rilasciata alla rivista Foreign Policy dice:

“All’inizio di questa guerra, il Presidente Biden ha inviato il Segretario di Stato Anthony Blinken per trasmettere agli egiziani e ai giordani la richiesta di consentire l’espulsione dei palestinesi nel loro territorio. Questo è vergognoso. Questa è la partecipazione diretta americana alla Pulizia Etnica di una parte della Palestina storica. Si sono immediatamente tirati indietro quando gli egiziani e i giordani hanno spiegato perché non avrebbero mai permesso che ciò accadesse”.

In questo, Biden ha fatto gli interessi di Israele come è stato fatto per 50 anni. Ma questa volta ha cospirato con Israele per commettere una grave violazione del diritto internazionale. Ma non preoccupatevi, gli Stati Uniti non hanno ratificato lo Statuto di Roma, quindi Biden, Blinken e Netanyahu non siederebbero sul banco degli imputati al tribunale dell’Aja. Teoricamente Netanyahu potrebbe essere processato. Ma non con l’attuale Procuratore Generale della Corte Penale Internazionale.

Ho interrogato il Dipartimento di Stato, chiedendo se potevano confermare che Blinken aveva trasmesso un piano del genere all’Egitto e alla Giordania. Invece di rispondere alla mia domanda, ha inviato un testo che fa eco alle parole della Vicepresidente Kamala Harris sopra riportate:

• Gli Stati Uniti continueranno inoltre a sostenere gli sforzi per un passaggio sicuro per i civili a Gaza in cerca di sicurezza.

• Gli Stati Uniti non supportano alcun trasferimento forzato di palestinesi fuori Gaza.

• Gli Stati Uniti non supportano e non sosterranno alcuno spostamento forzato dei palestinesi dalle loro case a Gaza.

Chiaramente, una volta respinto il piano da Egitto e Giordania, gli Stati Uniti hanno modificato la loro posizione, ma solo leggermente. Anche se sembrano aver abbandonato la proposta di “trasferimento” avanzata all’Egitto e alla Giordania, non lo hanno fatto affatto. Mantengono un linguaggio che consente a Israele di espellere gli abitanti di Gaza purché se ne vadano volontariamente, lasciando a Israele la definizione del termine.Questa è Pulizia Etnica con un altro nome. L’abbiamo abbellita chiamandola “assistenza ai rifugiati” e provvedendo ai “bisogni degli abitanti di Gaza sfollati oltre confine”. Siamo così magnanimi e generosi. Ci prendiamo cura dei bambini e degli orfani. Non siamo grandiosi?! Il tutto tradendo gli abitanti di Gaza e trattandoli come bestiame spedito al macello, invece che come esseri umani.

Richard Silverstein è un blogger di professione che si definisce un “progressista critico del sionismo” che sostiene un “ritiro israeliano ai confini pre-67 e un accordo di pace garantito a livello internazionale con i palestinesi”. Ha anche creato l’ormai defunto Israel Palestine Forum, un forum progressista dedicato alla discussione del conflitto israelo-palestinese. Ha spesso intervistato su Iranian Press TV e ha contribuito con saggi ad Al Jazeera, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Jewish Daily Forward, Los Angeles Times, Tikkun, Truthout, The American Conservative, Middle East Eye e Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Traduzione: Beniamino Rocchetto – Invictapalestina.org

Briefing pèresented to MEP in EU by ECCP, december 6-7, 2023

Almost two months into the Israel’s land, sea and air war on, and invasion of, Gaza, both the human toll and the wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure are staggering. Israel’s indiscriminate bombing has killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, including more than 6000 children and 4000 women; some 7,000 people are still missing. More than 36,000 Palestinians have been physically injured or maimed. The psychological impact of the assault, especially on children, is unknowable. About 60% of homes are completely or partially destroyed. 1.7m of Gaza’s 2.3m people have been displaced. 108 UN workers and some 200 medical personnel have been killed (all data from  HYPERLINK “https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-53″November 28, see the addendum). These numbers, disturbing as they are, are also, likely an underestimation, since the targeted attacks on the health system have made it impossible to continue with accurate monitoring. 

No single conflict has caused such devastation in such a short time span in recent history. This is a result of a massive and systematic violation of international humanitarian law, laws designed to ensure the protection of civilians during war. Civilians and civilian infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, homes, places of worship and sanitation systems were bombed without distinction, all of which constitute war crimes.

The UN secretary General Antonio Guterres stated “ HYPERLINK “https://turkiye.un.org/en/253313-gaza-unprecedented-and-unparalleled-civilian-death-toll-guterres”We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict” which has taken place during his mandate. He called Gaza not only a humanitarian crisis, but also “ HYPERLINK “https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143267”a crisis of humanity”.  

On 27^th October the UN General Assembly voted for  HYPERLINK  \l “:~:text=Occupied Palestinian Territory.-,UN General Assembly adopts Gaza resolution,immediate and sustained ‘humanitarian truce’&text=The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution,and Hamas militants in Gaza.”a resolution calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire. The UN secretary general, humanitarian agencies, UN experts, and millions upon millions of people around the globe have been calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, all to no avail. Only almost seven weeks into the assault on Gaza was  HYPERLINK “https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-hamas-start-first-truce-gaza-war-2023-11-24/”a temporary truce finally achieved. The gap between the western political decision makers including the EU and what the UN and the people of the world are calling for could not be starker. 

The  HYPERLINK “https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/11/12/statement-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-european-union-on-humanitarian-pauses-in-gaza/”EU’s own position requested only humanitarian pauses, falling far short of demanding a permanent ceasefire. The EU and its member states have been ignoring the clear demands of their own citizens and of the citizens of the world.  This refusal to even demand a ceasefire makes EU complicit in the continuing crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated on Palestinian people in Gaza. Although the pauses allow limited humanitarian aid to reach those in need and achieve the release of some captives, it will not serve to save more Palestinian lives in Gaza. It is truly shocking that the EU has chosen to support Israel and failed to prevent further loss of life. 

At the same time, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and illegally-annexed East Jerusalem have faced increased repression by the Israeli military and armed gangs of illegal settlers (280 killed, more than 3000 arrested, villages and refugee camps have been destroyed and ethnically cleansed). 

The Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have lived under Israeli occupation since 1967. They are thus a  HYPERLINK  \l “:~:text=Persons protected by the Convention,which they are not nationals.”protected people according to international law, and the State of Israel is waging war and laying a siege on the population it has a legal obligation to protect. When the responsible authority manifestly fails to protect the people under its control,  HYPERLINK “https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/about-responsibility-to-protect.shtml”the responsibility falls on the international community including the EU. Abandoning this responsibility shows an open contempt for international law. 

The momentary truce in place since November 24 has given much needed respite. But it is an absolute priority that it be extended and converted into a permanent ceasefire. Together with the UN and  HYPERLINK “https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231127-ireland-calls-for-extension-of-gaza-truce-says-this-conflict-must-end/”the Irish government, the  HYPERLINK “https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/nov/24/spanish-and-belgian-prime-ministers-call-for-permanent-ceasefire-in-gaza-at-rafah-crossing-video”prime minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez and the prime minister of Belgium Alexander De Cro also called for a permanent ceasefire. This position should be embraced by the whole of the EU community. The unattainability of Israel’s stated goal to achieve the total elimination of Hamas is clear, as most serious analysts have stated. Therefore, it should be clear what Israel’s aggression really is – a war on the 2.3m Palestinian people who live in Gaza.  HYPERLINK “https://twailr.com/public-statement-scholars-warn-of-potential-genocide-in-gaza/”Experts warned that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide, and numerous UN experts invoked the need for  HYPERLINK “https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/gaza-un-experts-decry-bombing-hospitals-and-schools-crimes-against-humanity”the prevention of genocide. 

Genocide is prohibited by the  HYPERLINK “https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.pdf”Genocide Convention  of 1948 as well as by the  HYPERLINK “https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/RS-Eng.pdf”Rome Statute of 1998, and is defined as specific acts carried out with the “intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part.” Not only Israel’s mass killings, but also  HYPERLINK “https://www.newarab.com/analysis/erase-gaza-how-genocidal-rhetoric-normalised-israel”the clear incitement,  HYPERLINK “https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/un-expert-warns-new-instance-mass-ethnic-cleansing-palestinians-calls”mass ethnic cleansing, and the use of  HYPERLINK “https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/press-releases/starvation-as-weapon-of-war-being-used-against-gaza-civilians-oxfam/”starvation as weapon of war and a severe restriction on humanitarian and other forms of  HYPERLINK “https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/07/israels-collective-punishment-palestinians-illegal-and-affront-justice-un”collective punishment, strengthen the case that genocide has been ongoing in Gaza. As genocide constitutes one of the gravest crimes against humanity, state parties are legally obligated to prevent its commission. 

Instead,  HYPERLINK “https://www.euronews.com/2023/11/03/europe-aiding-and-assisting-israels-war-in-gaza-with-vital-weapons”some EU countries have actually been providing Israel with military aid and assistance, despite Israel’s decades-long record of human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law and in contradiction to  HYPERLINK “https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32008E0944″the EU’s own policy. These countries not only violate their obligations not to render assistance to the commission of crimes, they are also complicit in the crimes perpetrated by the Israeli state and are thus themselves liable for prosecution.  

It is time for the EU to address  HYPERLINK “https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/co-israel/index”the root causes, to stop aiding Israel’s regime of apartheid, occupation and colonization, to act to stop this genocidal war, to stop the impunity enjoyed by Israel for a quarter of a century, and to advocate for and help implement a genuine peace in the region based on respect for international law and human rights, paramount among which is the protection of the entire Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. 

We, organisations representing the views of millions of European citizens, call upon you to fulfil your moral and legal obligations to take all measures at your disposal to halt this “crisis of humanity.” In the immediate term we demand that the EU:

1. Prevents further loss of life by acting swiftly to ensure extension of the temporary truce into a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. 

2. Pressures Israel to ensure immediate entry and delivery of sufficient quantities of humanitarian aid and relief to the whole strip, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, and ensures such aid is not conditioned and is delivered to all parts of the strip, as required under international law and to be enforced and guaranteed by the UN through its agencies.

3. Pressures Israel to ensures the safe return of all displaced persons from the Gaza Strip to their homes immediately, and prevents Israel from depopulating and displacing the people of the Gaza Strip within or outside it, and to be enforced and guaranteed by the UN through its agencies.

4. Prevents Israel from arresting more Palestinians.

5. Encourages and facilitates immediate action by the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to advance the Court’s investigation into the crimes perpetrated by Israel on Palestinian people including the crime of genocide.

6. Encourages member states to Impose a comprehensive military embargo on the Israeli state.

7. Imposes travel ban on Israeli officials responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and on violent settlers.

8. Addresses the root causes and work towards a genuine solution based on international law and human rights. This implies, first and foremost, respecting the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people in its entirety, and committing to bringing about an immediate end Israel’s occupation, siege of Gaza and discriminatory practices amounting to the Crime of Apartheid.

The war we don’t see: metals and deformities

Marwa and Hameed have only one child who is still alive. In 2012, a little girl died in Marwa’s life – with a deformed head, without a brain. In 2013, Leyla was born, but she died half an hour after birth – without kidneys, with deformed arms. The neighbours, Nadia and Mohammad, had three children, but all three died shortly after birth. The fourth child was born in 2011, dead and deformed. We are in Fallujah, an old city with 300,000 inhabitants. Fallujah – the Mother of Mosques – was the base of the Iraqi resistance, and was slaughtered by the US Army in 2004. Twice, in April and in November, everything alive in Fallujah was the target of killers on rooftops and in cockpits. Two years later, more and more mothers in the city started to have abortions, and more and more children were born deformed. Just like in Basra in the South: the bombing of Basra began in the Gulf War in 1990 and continued for twenty years. In 1995, more abortions and malformations was observed. In 2013, the number tripled. As in Nangarhar, the province that took the most bombs during America’s revenge war against Afghanistan after the 11 September attack. In 2005, I (HH) was invited by colleagues at the provincial hospital in Jalalabad to study birth defects they had never seen before.

Is there a pattern here? Let’s look at Gaza: In Christmas 2008, Gaza was bombed day and night for three weeks. Local wars are opportune laboratories for testing “improved weapons”, and two months earlier Israel had received batches of new American high explosives. In the tissue samples from the wounds of the survivors of the Christmas War, our research team found aluminium, copper, mercury, barium, vanadium, nickel, manganese and cadmium – all metals in higher concentrations than in uninjured control subjects. In 2011, we analyzed hair samples from newborns with birth defects at Shifa hospital. The concentration of mercury and selenium was significantly higher in the deformed babies than in healthy controls. In hair samples from pregnant Gazan mothers after the 2014 war, we observed the same pattern. From 2006 to 2017, the frequency of congenital structural malformations has increased from 1.1 to 1.9% and preterm births from 1.1 to 7.9%. About 40% of these children will die during the first month of life. But it’s worse: Malformations of the heart are not included – add two percent. Diseases and system errors making their clinical debut later in life such as cancer, immune defects and behavioral disorders are not included – add at least five percent.

Epigenetics and metals

Our body is in constant change. From the time I attach myself to the wall of the warm womb until I die, I form new cells and discharge cells that are damaged or expired. New cells are created on the basis of the gene recipes stored in the previous generation. This is the river of life. It can be damaged in two ways. Either genetically – by messing with the recipe, the DNA molecule in the cell nucleus. Or epigenetically – by messing up the expression, transmission and understanding of the recipes, of the gene signals. Because cells are talking to each other, and they use estrogen channels for communication, both in girls and boys. A number of metals can interfere with the recipient cells’ estrogen receptors, thus creating incorrect signals into the cell nucleus. These false messengers – “metal estrogens” – do not work along a simple dose-response line, the more-brandy-the-more-drunk. Minimal quantities are enough to confuse the signaling system and thereby cell division, and the effects of the heavy metal cocktail are totally unpredictable. In the first weeks of life in the mother’s womb, while we are just a cluster of a few hundred stem cells, while the organs – and especially the nervous tissue – are in the making, a single reading error may trigger disaster.

Let’s trace the path to these metals: Thermobaric projectiles are used against apartment buildings and shelters/tunnels. Thermo(heat)-bar(pressure) explosives work by spreading a cloud of highly explosive gases which are then ignited in an ultra-fast explosion. No conventional explosive weapon creates equivalent heat and pressure. The latest generation thermobaric projectile uses aluminum dust as explosive gas. Microparticles of aluminum – 5 hundredths of a millimeter in size – with a coating of heavy metal are ignited and spread over the impact field. Colleague Ghassan Abusitta at Shifa hospital reported three weeks ago more and more burn patients, then the thermobaric weapon are in use.

The explosive dust spreads everywhere. The pulverization of buildings spreads the metals to the entire population. Mum breathes, drinks and eats – and is slowly poisoned. The metals pass from the mother’s blood, across the placental barrier and into the fetus’s blood, where they also cross the blood-brain barrier. Mother dilutes her own toxic reserves while poisoning her young. All the metals we found in the tissue samples in Gaza have documented epigenetic effects. If this is not chemical warfare, the authors of this chronicle have misunderstood the term.

The hardest thing to think about

Cells talk to each other, but they have memory as well: Nano-doses of heavy metals leave epigenetic traces in the fetal germ cells. These traces lie dormant, are activated during adolescence, and can then be passed on to grandchildren’s children.

What kind of future are we looking into?

Hans Husum is a surgeon with a doctorate in war surgery.

Paola Manduca is professor of genetics at the University of Genoa.

President NWRG-odv 

“Klassekampen”, December 1, 2023

Caro editore,
hai giustamente illustrato che gli organismi delle Nazioni Unite hanno chiesto la 
cessazione totale delle operazioni militari su Gaza, hanno fatto appello alla Corte penale 
internazionale, 
in vista di una carneficina di donne e bambini (il 70% delle oltre 15.000 vittime) 
come mai prima nel secolo e che ha preso di mira le infrastrutture e il personale medico
Dopo una pausa, tutto questo ricomincia.

Le richieste di protezione del personale sanitario da parte dei professionisti medici non hanno 
trovato eco nell’Associazione medica israeliana, nelle associazioni mediche nazionali 
e nella World Medical Association; 
sono rimasti in silenzio, nonostante la chiara presa di mira dei servizi sanitari. 
Hanno ignorato il sacrificio di vite umane (più di 160 vittime) delle équipe mediche e non 
hanno espresso solidarietà né sostegno per la loro abnegazione in una situazione disastrosa.
I dilemmi etici dei professionisti di Gaza, privi di mezzi per una adeguata anestesia  per 
alleviare il dolore e per ridurre le infezioni post trauma, dovrebbero interrogare i professionisti 
medici e costituire la base per richiedere protezione e rendicontazione. 
Altre centinaia di bambini e adulti hanno perso la vita negli ospedali, 
aggiungendosi a quelli uccisi dalle armi.

Non è stato dimostrato che Al Shifa fosse la sede del comando centrale di Hamas, 
e comunque come ciò implica attacchi a tutte le (29/35) strutture sanitarie nel nord di Gaza?
Dall'8 ottobre, tutti sono stati strangolati tagliando acqua, elettricità, carburante, cibo 
e tutte le forniture mediche, minacciati se non venivano chiusi, 
poi colpiti direttamente e il personale arrestato o sfollato con la forza fuori dalla struttura.

Riassumendo i principali eventi: 17 ottobre bombardato il cortile dell'ospedale Alhi; 
Amici turchi per cancro, gli ospedali Eyes, Wada, Pediatric Nasser e Rantissi colpiti e costretti 
a chiudere, l'ultimo con sfollamento forzato del personale e delle famiglie, 
mentre i bambini non trasportabili sono stati lasciati incustoditi; 
l'ospedale di Awda e l'ospedale di Aqsa ripetutamente danneggiati dai colpi, con numerose 
vittime; L'ospedale indonesiano e quello di Shifa hanno entrambi colpiti più volte
distruggendo intere sezioni, uccidendo infermieri e altre persone.
Colpiti direttamente macchinari essenziali, sale operatorie, generatori di ossigeno, 
pannelli solari e unità di terapia intensiva; 
il personale veniva tenuto prigioniero mentre i corpi dei morti si accumulavano nei loro locali, 
quando l'ospedale era diventato rifugio per migliaia di sfollati.

Nonostante l’abnegazione del personale, nel nord di Gaza non rimangono strutture mediche 
e maternità pienamente funzionanti. 52 su 75 ambulatori di assistenza primaria e 
servizi di dialisi e malattie non trasmissibili per adulti sono costretti a chiudere. 
Le facoltà di medicina e di scienze a Gaza sono state distrutte. 
Più di 100 membri del personale dell'UNWRA sono stati uccisi. 
Sono state dismesse più di 50 ambulanze.
Quel che è peggio, non è una cosa del tutto nuova o inaspettata: dal 2014 l’IDF ha attaccato 
ospedali e strutture educative, compromettendo la sopravvivenza e il futuro di tutti. 
Durante i 17 anni di assedio di Gaza, i servizi sanitari sono stati costantemente compromessi 
attraverso la negazione di strumenti e forniture, la limitazione dei permessi di formazione e 
di accesso per i professionisti stranieri, come documentato dalle Nazioni Unite 
e dalle principali ONG (1). Dal 2021 questo divieto è stato il più severo e la crisi economica 
dovuta al blocco ha provocato una diminuzione del numero degli studenti universitari 
di medicina e scienze.
Il cessate il fuoco temporaneo ha mostrato l'immensa devastazione anche degli ospedali, 
resa ancora più triste perché gli attacchi agli ospedali sono stati raccomandati 
anche da 100 medici israeliani (2) in violazione di qualsiasi diritto ed etica internazionale.

Non dovrebbero tutti i professionisti e le loro associazioni chiedere finalmente in coro
 un cessate il fuoco totale, incondizionato e duraturo, condannare la distruzione delle 
strutture sanitarie che moltiplica le morti, riconoscere l’abnegazione dei colleghi di Gaza, 
affermare che è stato commesso un crimine di guerra e lamentare anche la forzata 
dispersione del lavoro accumulato, dell'esperienza e della manodopera investita nel sistema 
sanitario di Gaza che difficilmente può essere ricostruito in breve tempo? 
non dovrebbero forse sostenere il diritto umano inalienabile alla cura del popolo di Gaza? 
non dovrebbero forse aiutarli impegnandosi con forza ad andare oltre la 
carità temporanea e a sostenere risoluzioni stabili?

english

Dear  Editor, 

you aptly illustrated that UN bodies asked for full stop of the military operations on Gaza, appealed to the ICC, in view of a carnage of women and children (70% of the 15.000 plus victims) as never before in the century and targeting of health infrastructures and personnel. 

After a pause, this is just starting again.

Calls to protect health personnel by medical professionals, were not echoed by the Israeli Medical Association, national medical associations, and the World Medical Association; they remained silent, regardless of clear targeting of health services. They ignored the sacrifice in lives (plus 160 victims) of medical teams and expressed no solidarity and support for their abnegation in the dire situation. 

The ethical dilemmas of Gaza professionals lacking means for proper anesthesia, pain relief and for reducing post trauma infections, should interrogate medical professionals and be ground for requesting protection and accounting. Hundreds more children’s and adult’s lives were lost in hospitals, adding to those killed by the weapons. 

It was not proven that Al Shifa was the location of central command of Hamas, and anyhow how this implies attacks on all (29/35) health facilities in the North of Gaza? 

Since October 8, all were strangled by cutting water, electricity, fuel, food and all medical supplies, menaced if did not close, then directly hit and personnel arrested or displaced forcibly out of the facility. 

Summarizing major events: October  17 Alhi hospital courtyard bombed; Turkish friendship cancer, Eyes, Wada, Pediatric Nasser and Rantissi hospitals hit and forced to close, the last with forcible displacement of the personnel and families, while not transportable babies were left unattended; Awda hospital and the Aqsa hospital repeatedly damaged by hits, whit many victims; Indonesia hospital and Shifa -both hit many times destroying whole sections, killing attending nurses and others. Essential machinery, surgical theaters, oxygen generator, solar panels, and ICUs directly hit; personnel kept captive while bodies of the dead accumulated in their premises, when hospital had become shelter for thousands of displaced people. 

Regardless of abnegation of personnel, no fully functional medical facilities and maternities remain in the North of Gaza. 52 out of 75 primary care clinics and adult not communicable disease and dialysis services forced to close. The medical and science faculties in Gaza were destroyed.  More than 100 UNWRA personnel was killed. More than 50 ambulances taken off use.

Worse, this is not totally new or unexpected: since 2014 IDF attacked hospitals and education structures, impairing survival and future for all. During the 17 years siege of Gaza, health services were constantly impaired through denial of instruments and supplies, restricting permits for training and of access for foreign professionals, as documented by UN, major NGOs (1). Since 2021 this ban was the tightest, and the economic crisis due to the blockade induced decrease in the number of university medicine and science students.

The temporary ceasefire showed the immense devastation also of hospitals, made more sad because attacks on hospital was recommended also by 100 Israeli doctors (2) in contravention with any international law and ethics.

Should not all professionals and their associations, finally chorally ask a full unconditional and long lasting ceasefire, condemn the destruction of health structure which multiplies deaths, recognize the abnegation of the Gaza colleagues, appreciate that a war crime has been committed and lament also the forced dispersal of accumulated work, experience and labor invested in the Gaza’s health system which can hardly be reconstructed in short time? should they not uphold the inalienable human right of care for the people of Gaza? should they not help by standing strongly to go beyond temporary charity and advocate for stable resolutions?

Paola Manduca, Geneticist, retired Associate Professor University of Genoa, Italy

paolamanduca@gmail.com 

References

1-  https://www.icrc.org/en/document/gaza-protecting-healthcare-conflict

-https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/israelpalestine-operation-protective-edge-gaza-13-june-26-august-2014 

– https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/co-i-gaza-conflict/report-co-i-gaza

2- https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-doctors-group-calls-for-bombing-al-shifa-hospital-in-gaza/3044872

– https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-doctors-letter

The deadly Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the freezing of the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the only one capable of allowing the establishment of an economic corridor linking the region to Europe via the Israeli ports of Ashkelon and Haifa. A necessary path to no longer depend on Russian fossil fuels. For this, the Palestinian enclave must be under control.

The scene takes place during the G20 summit which was held in New Delhi, India, on September 9 and 10. With a smile on their lips, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announce the launch of a new project that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, hails as “a really big deal” (a very big deal).
This project, called the “Global Infrastructure Investment Partnership”, could, according to its designers, accelerate trade between India and Europe by 40% and help normalize relations between Israel and the Gulf States. , which is one of the essential conditions for its achievement. It is also a competing project with that of the new Silk Roads (Belt and Road Initiative) that China wants to establish. Beijing is trying to connect East Asia and the Middle East to the Mediterranean Sea through Iranian and Iraqi lands and to Syrian ports.

“A game-changing investment”
The deadly Hamas attack on October 7, whatever the purpose and motives, put a stop to this planned partnership. The ongoing normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, by far the most important, is at a standstill and the question of Palestine, relegated in recent years to the backstage of history, finds itself center stage, to the great dismay of Benyamin Netanyahu, who is totally invested in the project.
Therefore, the initiative publicly announced at the G20 summit sheds new light on the current sequence, the Israeli unleashing against the Gaza Strip and the astonishing support of European countries for this relentlessness, silence or timid action Arab countries.
The plan, with unprecedented geopolitical and geo-economic benefits, supported by the United States and the European Union (EU), aims to build an economic corridor linking India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE ), Jordan, Israel and the EU through seaports and rail routes, with the aim of making trade faster and cheaper and, as officially stated, boosting economic cooperation and digital connectivity In the region.
For Modi, this India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor promises to be “a beacon of cooperation, innovation and common progress”, Biden considers it “a game-changing investment” and von der Leyen describes it as “much more than a simple railway or a cable, it is a green and digital bridge between continents and civilizations”.
Jake Sullivan, the US security adviser, remarked allusively: “We think the project itself is bold and transformative, but the vision behind it is just as bold and transformative, and we will also see it in other parts of the world. » Clearly, this is not just an economic agreement, but a change in global relations that did not come out of a hat.
The same Sullivan revealed that discussions for the project began in July 2022, during Joe Biden’s visit to Riyadh, and that another meeting between Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India took place earlier this year to formalize an agreement. Israel, which does not have diplomatic relations with Riyadh, also participated in the project, as did Jordan.

Eilat, starting point for a new gas pipeline to Europe?
In June 2022, Ursula von der Leyen visited Ukraine, Israel and then Egypt. A journey that could be described as energetic and above all energetic. A trip during which she met, in Cairo, the Egyptian Minister of Oil, Tarek El Moulla, and the Israeli Minister of Energy, Karine Elharrar. The outcome is a tripartite agreement on liquefied gas and infrastructure development to make Egypt a regional gas hub.
“We agreed to work together to transport natural gas from Israel via Egypt, then to the EU,” the President of the European Commission underlined at the time. The stated goal is to free ourselves from Russian fossil fuels. Israeli gas is liquefied in Egypt. How is it transported? Through a little-talked about gas pipeline, the result of an agreement between Cairo and Tel Aviv concluded in 2005. At the time, Egypt exported its gas to Israel.
A gas “pumped via a hundred-kilometer underwater pipeline connecting the Egyptian Mediterranean port of El-Arish to the Israeli city of Ashkelon”, as indicated by the Keys to the Middle East website. A gas pipeline that runs off the coast of the Gaza Strip. “The gas is sold to the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), a consortium of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, the Israeli Merhav group and the Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem. »
A little publicized agreement which will be criticized in vain, particularly after the intervention of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in… 2009. Closed temporarily in 2012, this pipeline was put back into service in 2020 but, this time, it is Israeli gas going to Egypt.
During her meetings in June 2022, the President of the European Commission also mentioned a project, that of the construction of a gas pipeline connecting Israeli waters to Europe. This is the EastMed gas pipeline, which the European Commission has deemed a priority within the framework of projects of common interest (PIC) in the field of energy but which would not be put into service before 2028. It would connect the gas
fields Israelis and Cypriots to Greece and then to Italy, crossing the disputed waters between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. The interest presented by the Israeli port of Eilat, located on the Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea, is thus briefly mentioned. Which would make it a strategic point for energy exports from the Gulf countries to Europe.

An Israeli-Emirati consortium to build a pipeline between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean
On September 22, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations General Assembly. After saying he was “convinced that we should not give the Palestinians a right of veto over new peace treaties likely to be concluded between Israel and the Arab states”, the head of the far-right Israeli government publicly rejoiced . “At the G20 conference, President Biden, Prime Minister Modi and European and Arab leaders announced a visionary corridor project that will stretch from the Arab Peninsula to Israel. »
Brandishing a map called the “new Middle East”, he then drew a line with a red marker starting from Asia, passing through Israel and ending in Europe. “We will not only remove the barriers between Israel and our neighbors,” he cried. Together we will build a new corridor of peace and prosperity, which will connect Asia to Europe through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel. It’s an extraordinary change, it’s a monumental change, it’s another turning point in history. » Of the State of Palestine, there is obviously no question of it.
It is therefore a carefully considered puzzle which is being put into place and whose existence is totally conditioned by the Abraham Accords, that is to say the normalization of relations between Israel and a certain number of Arab countries. For the moment, these agreements concern Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain and the UAE.
This is how a memorandum of understanding was signed in October 2020 between the Israeli public company EAPC (Europe Asia Pipeline Company) and the Israeli-Emirati company Med-Red for the transport of oil via an oil pipeline connecting the Red Sea (via the Israeli port of Eilat) to the Mediterranean, at the Israeli port of Ashkelon, about twenty kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
Most of it currently passes through the Suez Canal through maritime tankers. This project will reduce costs and facilitate the transport of larger quantities meeting the growing needs of the European market after its supply of Russian oil and gas was interrupted following the war in Ukraine.
The United Arab Emirates has signed an agreement to build a maritime pipeline linking Israel to Cyprus, Greece and Europe, making Israel a key corridor controlling oil exports from the Gulf to the Old Continent. Which would result in a reduction of Suez Canal revenues by 17%.
To which must be added the project to duplicate the already existing trans-Israeli oil pipeline, crossing Israel for 254 km from Eilat to Ashkelon, which could mean the closure of the Egyptian Sumed oil pipeline (which transports Gulf oil from the port of Ain Sukhna, in the Red Sea, to the port of Sidi Kerir in the Mediterranean).

A secret deal between Israel and the Palestinian authority
This new road would include the drilling of a new canal, called the Ben-Gurion canal. The idea is not new, it dates from the 1960s. But it was revived by Israel at the time of the Abraham Accords. At the origin, we find the US desire not to depend on Egypt, considered too close to Russia, while, according to the US Naval Institute, 12% of world trade passes through the Suez Canal.
In April 2021, Tel Aviv even announced the start of work for June of the same year. A way of rooting the route, particularly in the mind of the American ally. According to the Armstrongeconomics website, part of this canal “would pass precisely through the Gaza Strip. The passage would begin from the port city of Eilat in Israel across the Gulf of Aqaba, via the Jordanian border and the Arabah Valley before entering the Dead Sea and heading north around the Strip of Gaza.”
This canal, unlike that of Suez, would be doubled and could therefore accommodate ships in both directions. It would also be wider and deeper. And it would provide Israel with a strategic option, because the Ben-Gurion Canal will diminish the importance of Suez to the US military. A development which Egypt will find all the more difficult to oppose (the revenues from the Suez Canal, between 6 and 9 billion dollars per year for the Egyptian treasury, will be considerably reduced) as it has renounced its sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir for the benefit of Saudi Arabia.
However, these two islands control the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba and therefore access to the ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel. “This project is not just a logistical improvement, it is a profound affirmation of Israel’s intention to become the linchpin of global maritime trade,” noted the Eurasianews.com news site on November 7.
We better understand the strategic importance of the Gaza Strip for the construction of the Ben-Gurion Canal. The junction would then take place with the large Israeli port of Haifa, further north, without any competition in the Eastern Mediterranean: the port of Beirut, in Lebanon, was destroyed three years ago and that of Latakia, in Syria, is regularly bombed by Israel. Both from a security and logistical point of view (for the extension of this oil terminal), the north of the Gaza Strip – at a minimum – should not represent any danger.
What better option for this than a territory emptied of its inhabitants? Especially since there are significant gas deposits off the coast of Gaza. Last June, Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he intended to accelerate its exploitation “within the framework of existing agreements between Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority”.
While secret negotiations were underway between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Hamas declared that it would not allow the Israelis to use the Gaza gas field issue as an instrument to reach political and security agreements with ‘other parts.
Israeli relentlessness against the Palestinian enclave, made possible by the deadly Hamas attack, could well find its source in these energy projects with colossal investments. The Gulf countries, the United States and the European Union, which are not making the slightest gesture to force Israel into a ceasefire, are stakeholders. The lives of Palestinians are measured by pipelines.

L’Humanité of November 21, 2023