#22 Long Live Palestine

On Sunday, 19th January 2025, at 11:15 local time in Gaza, a ceasefire was declared. After four hundred seventy days, the Palestinian sky was cautiously free; free of the never-ending onslaught of drones and missiles. People have been returning to Gaza, to their homes, kissing the soil, embracing all that is left of their land.

But the ceasefire is being violated. Israel Occupation Forces have raided refugee camps in the West Bank. Since the ceasefire was announced, at least 87 people have been killed in Gaza itself, and 188 have been injured. A library reduced to rubble. The healthcare system utterly dismantled.

In these fifteen months, since 7th October 2023, the Israel Occupation Forces have murdered at least 47000 Palestinians (this includes nearly 18000 children) and gravely injured at least 110,000 lives. Half the population of Gaza is under the age of 18. An estimated 85,000 tonnes of explosives have been dropped on Gaza, equivalent to six Hiroshima attacks.

An intentional starving and stripping away of livelihoods

Amidst various sectors, Gaza's farming and fishing sectors have been badly hit by the genocide. In a paper published in the Review of Agrarian Studies by social researcher Arun Kumar, he illuminates that a study commissioned by the Palestinian Farmers’ Union (2023) shows that, before October 2023, there was complete self-sufficiency in Palestine as a whole in vegetables, eggs, and olive oil.

The paper further adds that since the genocide, in the Gaza region, Israel sprayed herbicides and other chemicals on the land, making it useless for cultivation. The once lush agricultural lands were turned into parched lands clear of any vegetation. According to Forensic Architecture (2023), 40 per cent of lands used for agricultural production has been destroyed. Between October 2023 and March 2024, one-third of greenhouses were destroyed. In Northern Gaza, where the attacks were much more intense, nearly 90 per cent of greenhouses have been destroyed. During this period, Israel converted more than 2,000 agricultural sites and greenhouses in Gaza into military sites. The ground invasion on Gaza has led to the destruction of 50 per cent of Palestinian farmland and orchards.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees, a Palestinian NGO, has accused Israel of deliberately using chemicals such as white phosphorus on farmlands in Gaza. As the chemicals penetrate into the soil, the affected land is rendered uncultivable for more than five years after bombardment.

Israel attacks have destroyed more than one-third of irrigation infrastructure.

The sea-shore is a sewage, filthy and contaminated. Before the genocide, Israel's fishing sector was struggling to make ends meet. Fishers were allowed to travel upto 6 nautical miles (approx 11km) into the sea. Ever since the genocide began, there is no safe space at sea. A fisherman told a journalist," “The maximum distance we can get to is around 400 meters. Every day is a different challenge. You may be attacked at 10 meters, 50 meters, 200 meters, or 400 meters, but it’s impossible to get further. Once we get in the sea, the military ship approaches and starts shooting us.”

Fishers in rowing boats are shot at by Israeli Navy.

Upto 80 percent of Gaza's fishing fleet has been destroyed. Their boats have been reduced to splinters, their nets are ripped apart; the 4,500 fishers of Gaza have all lost their sources of income. The Port of Gaza, where at least a hundred boats were docked, was fully destroyed during the genocide. Fishing was the second most important economic contributor for Gaza, after farming.

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a small fleet of ships organized in 2010 by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials with the intention of breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

On 31 May 2010, Israeli forces boarded the ships in a raid from speedboats and helicopters. Following resistance on one of the boats, nine activists were killed by Israeli forces. Here is a film that documents the violence that ensued on the ship.

During the genocide, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla came back to life, and has been trying to reach Gaza for the last fifteen months, without much luck.

What does Gaza need?

A ceasefire without accountability is meaningless. Israel has a record of denying vital supplies to Palestinians in Gaza. As a genocidal state, Israel must not benefit from any aid surge or reconstruction efforts in Gaza.

• Unhindered access to critical, large-scale humanitarian aid is the need of the hour. Supplies should be sourced from the efforts of international community coming together to help, not from Israel.
• Forensic and rescue teams, along with international journalists should be granted unrestricted access to investigate mass graves, locate the missing, and document the atrocities committed by Israel, which is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.

What can you do?

• Do not stop talking about Palestine. It is now, more than ever, that all eyes need to be watching and talking about Palestine. Amplify stories, share them in your networks. The first step to holding accountability is observing and documenting everything.
• BOYCOTT EVERYTHING THAT SUPPORTS THE GENOCIDE. This includes brands that bring you comfort and convenience. This includes events that are sponsored by brands supporting the genocide. Genocides thrive on capitalism. Capitalism thrives on your desire for convenience, and on some occasions, it thrives on your desire for joy. Do not let your joy be the reason for someone else's suffering. Do better.

A ceasefire does not erase the destruction, it does not bring back thousands of lives lost in the genocide. It neither truly protects Palestine from the ongoing onslaught of Israel's genocide. The root causes of this still remain unaddressed.

Recommended Reads

The Destruction of Agriculture and Mass Starvation in Palestine: https://ras.org.in/index.php?Article=the_destruction_of_agriculture_and_mass_starvation_in_palestine

The Conditions of Palestinian Farmers and Rural Communities in the West Bank Amid Escalating Israeli Settler Violence and Ethnic Cleansing: https://uawc-pal.org/the-conditions-of-palestinian-farmers-and-rural-communities-in-the-west-bank-amid-escalating-israeli-settler-violence-and-ethnic-cleansing/

Briefing Report The Israeli Occupation and the Palestinian Fishing Sector in Gaza: https://uawc-pal.org/briefing-report-the-israeli-occupation-and-the-palestinian-fishing-sector-in-gaza/

Suffocating Palestinian Civil Society Organisations: A Means to an End: https://www.alhaq.org/publications/22253.html