12/05/2024,


https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/05/12/725436/Israel-is-intent-on-the-total-annihilation-of-Gaza

GAZA: LAND OF GENOCIDE, DOMICIDE AND ECOCIDE 

presstv

After months of relentless attacks on Gaza, the Israeli regime has refused to
consider a ceasefire and has escalated its military operation in Rafah. This has
sparked concerns that the conflict in Gaza may not come to an end anytime soon.
Many experts believe that Israel's intentions are evident and that there will be
no permanent ceasefire and the genocide will continue with the ultimate goal of
raising Gaza to the ground.

The situation now in Rafah is that you have more than 1.1 million Palestinians,
who have been displaced from the north and middle of Gaza to Rafah, in addition
to the 250,000 original inhabitants.  You don't speak about between 1.3 and 1.4
million Palestinians who are now scattered and distributed on the borders
between Egypt and Rafah.

So any kind of attack, for those people, would be a catastrophic measure.
Mostafa Madbouly, Egyptian Prime Minister As a result of Israel's devastating
campaign in Gaza, thousands of lives have been tragically lost, and entire
communities now lay in ruins marking a grim chapter in the region's history.
However, the casualties are not limited to innocent civilians.  Israeli forces
seem to be deliberately targeting essential infrastructure such as homes,
hospitals, places of worship, schools, universities and farms; crucial elements
for sustaining life in this region.  As the conflict in Gaza enters its seventh
month residents have been left to subsist on animal feed and contaminated water
due to Israel's suspension of vital supplies to the besieged enclave.  Experts
and human rights organizations have condemned the numerous atrocities unfolding
in the region, labeling them as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
According to a recent report by the United Nations, it has been projected that
it would take approximately 14 years to clear the 37 million tonnes of debris in
the Gaza Strip.  The report highlights that every square meter affected by the
conflict in Gaza is burdened with 200 kilograms of rubble, underscoring the
extensive devastation caused by the war.

Investigations have uncovered a pattern of deliberate destruction by Israeli
forces, targeting civilian residences and infrastructure, resulting in the
displacement of over a million individuals in the region.  In the words of Pehr
Lodhammar, a senior officer from the United Nations Mine Action Services, UNMAS,
"all can I say is that at least 10% of the ammunition that is being fired
potentially fails to function. With 100 trucks, we're talking about 14 years of
work with 100 trucks, so that's 14 years to remove, with about 750,000 work
days, person work days, to remove the debris".

The fact is, in addition to genocide, Israeli soldiers are also culpable of
domicide, a term that characterizes the intentional, methodical and extensive
destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure, with the aim of making them
uninhabitable.

A detailed investigation by Bellingcat focused on the actions of the 82 19
commando unit, an Israeli combat engineering battalion, which has been
identified as responsible for demolishing numerous buildings in northern Gaza,
Gaza City, and the vicinity of Khan Younis.

We were sitting there safely when suddenly we heard extremely loud shelling. We
got up to see where the shelling was coming from. I realized that was our
neighbor's house. The house had been completely destroyed by the big missiles
that hit, leaving everyone inside dead.  All the people inside the house,
including the children and women, had been killed.  We helped gather the pieces
of flesh scattered on the streets and brought them to the ambulance.  It was a
harrowing scene that is indescribable.

A recent report from the World Bank revealed that more than 60%
of all residents in Gaza, totaling 290,820 housing units, have been demolished.
The conflict has resulted in an estimated 1.7 million individuals being
displaced with a significant number seeking refuge in the southern city of
Rafah, situated along the border with Egypt.

The displaced population is now enduring overcrowded living conditions with many
forced to reside in precarious tents for shelter.  Another UN report indicated
that the reconstruction of all the homes decimated in Gaza may necessitate a
staggering 80 years, citing data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics.

The report highlighted that, as of April 15, approximately 370,000 homes in Gaza
had suffered damage, with 79,000 of them completely razed to the ground. The
report underscored the profound socio-economic repercussions of the conflict on
the Palestinian populace, noting that the extent of devastation in Gaza is so
severe that the required aid for reconstruction would be unprecedented since
1948, encompassing the restoration of vital public infrastructure such as
schools and hospitals.

To date, the energy, water and municipal sectors have collectively endured close
to $800 million in damages, resulting in a substantial deterioration of the
water and sanitation systems, which now operate at less than 5% of their former
capacity.

Meanwhile, a staggering 84% of health facilities have been either damaged or
demolished, exacerbating the already dire situation. With the remaining
healthcare centers struggling to function due to inadequate electricity and
water supply, access to essential medical services has faced severe limitations.
At the same time, the education system in Gaza has crumbled, leaving all 625,000
students without access to schooling. The devastation inflicted upon the
educational infrastructure is staggering, totaling $341 million with
approximately 56 school facilities completely obliterated and 219 others
partially damaged.

Last, but not least, the Israel regime is systematically undermining Gaza's
capacity to cultivate its own food supply. During six months of Israel's
genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza, the region's agricultural
productivity and access to clean water, have been greatly impaired by relentless
Israeli airstrikes and bulldozing operations that have laid waste to formerly
thriving farmlands and orchards.  With farmers abandoning their crops in search
of safety in southern Gaza, the once thriving agricultural sector has been left
in ruins leading to the tragic demise of livestock.

Forensic Agriculture, a research group at Goldsmiths University of London, has
uncovered the deliberate destruction of over 2000 agricultural sites in Gaza
with Israeli military earthworks often replacing them.  This devastation,
concentrated in northern Gaza, has wiped out nearly 1/3 of the greenhouses and
around 40% of the farmland used for food production.

The investigation indicates that this Ecocide worsens the severe famine in Gaza
and is part of a broader strategy to deprive Palestinians of essential
resources. The devastation in northern Gaza has been especially pronounced with
90% of the destroyed greenhouses demolished during the initial phases of the
invasion.

This region, described by the head of the UN World Food Programme, WFP, as being
in a state of full-blown famine, has borne the brunt of the destruction,
exacerbating the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  As the Israeli
military presses south the relentless destruction of agricultural land and vital
infrastructure follows in its wake.  The harrowing amalgamation of Israeli
genocide, domicide, and, ecocide, has birthed the nightmarish reality for the
people of Gaza and its neighboring regions, transforming the once vibrant lands
into a living Inferno, a veritable hell on earth.