On 20 May, the secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the United Nations stated that 14,000 babies would be dead unless the blockade was lifted immediately. The day before, the former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin said: “Every child in Gaza is the enemy.” And now, world leaders in the UK and France threaten vague “concrete actions” if Israel “does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid”. But undefined “concrete actions” are woefully insufficient. To those leaders I say: Gaza’s children cannot eat statements.
Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, declared last week: “We are destroying everything in Gaza, the world isn’t stopping us.” So let’s say what must be said, without apology: military intervention to defend Gaza is not only justified – it is required. It is humanitarian. It is overdue. Israel must be stopped.
A no-fly zone must be set up around Gaza to prevent further aerial bombing; and a coalition of willing states should come together to form a corridor to 1) end Israel’s colonial mechanism that is set to take 65% of Gaza’s land and 2) allow for the immediate dispersal of humanitarian aid. Military intervention should not merely be aimed at pausing the killing – it should be used to protect Palestinians’ right to exist as a people, with dignity, sovereignty and full unconditional control over their land and futures.
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