Israel forces aid organizations to purchase food from Egypt and prevents them from buying it in Israel, which would allow for a more efficient and rapid transfer of goods. Israel also prohibits the private sector in Gaza from purchasing food, which could significantly increase supply. Although Israel recently allowed trucks in through Kerem Shalom Crossing, too, which is designed for commercial transports, this was merely a token addition that has failed to alleviate the hardship.

Aid organizations are struggling to operate under current conditions, and most of the limited aid allowed in remains in Rafah instead of reaching residents throughout the Strip. Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, listed several reasons why aid cannot be efficiently distributed. Among other things, he noted that trucks are inspected several times before Israel allows them into Gaza, and even then, long lines form due to the conditions at Rafah Crossing. The little food that does get in is very difficult to distribute due to the constant bombings, destroyed roads, frequent communication blackouts, and shelters overflowing with of hundreds of thousands of IDPs crowding into smaller and smaller areas.

Israel can, if it so chooses, change this reality. The images of children begging for food, people waiting in long lines for paltry handouts and hungry residents charging at aid trucks are already inconceivable. The horror is growing by the minute, and the danger of famine is real. Still, Israel persists in its policy.

Changing this policy is not just a moral obligation. Allowing food into the Gaza Strip is not an act of kindness but a positive obligation under international humanitarian law: starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited

  • BlackRoseAmongThorns@slrpnk.net
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    10 months ago

    I’ve just seen an Israeli soldier with the punisher symbol on his flag patch, this was getting insane the moment it started. With how much surveillance is going on here in israel, is there anything israelis can do?

  • McDropout@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    For my American friendly on Lemmy; both Joe Biden and Donald Trump support this.

    But they will try to convince me how Joe Biden is a better candidate. They’re both terrible.

      • McDropout@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        The downvotes whenever I mention this are not very telling.

        Many individuals tend to cling to a state of denial when confronted with the notion that participating in an electoral system limited to choosing between two political parties does not authentically embody the principles of a genuine democracy.

        But I digress.

          • Wrench@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            And that’s not going to happen without a super majority.

            Literally, your only chance to get the change you’re looking for is to vote Democrat across the board, get them a super majority, and hope (against odds) that they choose to pursue election reform.

            The popular opinion on lemmy of not participating in the 2 party system is just shouting into the wind while simultaneously enabling the extreme right.

            Grow the fuck up.

              • Wrench@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                So besides kicking and screaming, what is your actual mechanism of achieving change? What does not voting or adding to the <5% of independent voters achieve?

                Or will you continue to winge about how the democrats aren’t doing anything despite not actually having enough votes to do any of the things you’re demanding.

                Edit - thought so. Not a single idea offered. You all sound exactly like the Occupy Wallstreet crowd that kicked and screamed as loudly as they could, but couldn’t offer a single plausible solution to fix the problem.

                You want to complain that the status quo sucks without a plan on how to fix it.

                Again, grow the fuck up.

                The fascists need to be squashed. If we can give the Dems a super majority, they will have the tools to actually do something about it. Then they can break up into whatever new factions like progressives and moderates or whatever since it would be basically be inevitable after the fascists are pacified, and ranked choice voting would certainly be in the discussion.

                Or you can continue to scream into the wind and accomplish nothing.

                • mathemachristian[he]@lemm.ee
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                  10 months ago

                  The idea is that the dems won’t ever change anything if people vote blue no matter who. You want to make politicians work for your vote not hold you hostage in a “are you voting for a single genocide or double genocide” scenario. If you keep voting blue no matter who the slide into fascism will be just as sure only dragged out longer.

                  He actual solution is communist revolution obviously, but that’s a whole other topic.

    • BingoBangoBongo@midwest.social
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      10 months ago

      Israel has been facilitating payments from Qatar to Hamas to keep them in power in case you didn’t know. They created this situation on purpose. Hamas sucks, but Israel fostered it as an excuse to commit genocide.

      • speaker_hat@lemmy.one
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        10 months ago

        Israel did it because Israel believed in peace with Hamas, and that they’ll do good with the Palestinians.

        Additional proof to that is the IDF withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

        There is no genocide, the West Bank is an example for that.