We need to keep talking about the persistent atrocities in Gaza

The war in Iran, and the consequent spillover of higher fuel prices, have largely kept Israel’s genocide in Palestine out of domestic headlines in Bangladesh. But despite the signing of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in October last year, there has been no let-up in the former’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. On Thursday, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the number of settler attacks causing casualties or property damage in the occupied West Bank has surpassed 1,000 this year. Moreover, more than 2,200 Palestinians have been displaced so far this year due to settler violence and access restrictions, alongside hundreds more displaced by home demolitions carried out by Israeli authorities. The current rate of attacks by the settlers is notable because, at an average of six incidents per day, it is reportedly higher than in any previous year on record.

While Israel’s violence against Palestinians has been ongoing since 1948, it reached unprecedented levels after it launched its retaliation in response to Hamas’s attack of October 7, 2023. A recently published analysis by Oxfam International stated that more Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military and settlers in West Bank in the last three years—1,244—than in the previous 17 years combined. And more than one in five victims was a child. The numbers are, of course, far worse in Gaza, where Israel, by its own acknowledgement, has killed at least 70,000 and injured more than 171,000 since October 2023.

Despite the Palestinian statehood being recognised by 81 percent of the UN’s 193 member states, Israel continues to enjoy staunch support from powerful countries such as the US, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Of the support Palestine does have, much seems to exist only on paper. According to an investigation by Al Jazeera, military-related goods originating from at least 51 countries and self-governing territories have continued entering Israel even after the ICJ’s January 2024 warning of “a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.” The five largest countries of origin for military-related goods entering Israel—the US, India, Romania, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic—all recorded increased shipments starting in October 2023.

So, the blood of innocent Palestinians is not just on the hands of policymakers in Israel and the US. Too many countries around the world remain somehow complicit in these ongoing atrocities. Since last year’s ceasefire declaration, Israel has violated the agreement at least 3,201 times as of June 9. We are witnessing, in real time, the destruction of entire bloodlines. Therefore, just as South Africa took the initiative to challenge Israel at the ICJ, other countries must find the courage to do more than merely voice support for Palestine. They must take other practical measures, including diplomatic, economic, and legal actions, to help bring this genocide to an end.