’Stop the Gaza genocide now’

To mark the first anniversary of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip,  the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine has issued the following statement;

It is with deep sadness and utter disappointment over the international community’s failure to save the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians that the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine (SLCSP) mourns the first anniversary of Israel's ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

While expressing deep concern over Israel's total disregard for international law and international humanitarian laws that seek to ensure the safety of civilians caught in a conflict situation, the SLCSP strongly condemns Israel's murderous acts in occupied Palestine.

In the one year of collective punishment Israel has imposed on 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, more than 42,300 Palestinians, including 17,000 children and 11,000 women, have been officially confirmed killed with thousands more civilians unaccounted for in the rubble, and at least 31 of Gaza's 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.

Hundreds of Gaza's water purification plants and distribution facilities have been damaged or destroyed by Israel, leading to a life-threatening water shortage and the spread of disease. With utter disregard for human values, the oppressor has used starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. Israel has also destroyed more than 500 schools and higher learning facilities in Gaza. More than 1.9 million people, or over 80% of the Palestinian population, have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

Not only civilians but also nearly a thousand medical staff, aid workers, United Nations staff, and journalists have been killed in the ongoing Israeli genocide.  While we strongly condemn the atrocities that Israel has inflicted on Gaza Palestinians in the past year, we also renounce the United States' and other NATO countries' continuous supply of weapons to Israel to commit its genocide with impunity. We also express deep concern over Israeli moves to expand its murderous killing spree into neighbouring Arab countries.

We urge the international community, especially the big powers, to stop Israel's hardline Prime Minister Netanyahu and his extremist government from destabilising the Middle East, as Israel's terror campaign could lead to a major regional war with disastrous consequences not only to the region but also to the entire world, especially the developing nations like Sri Lanka. While we strongly assert that the conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories did not begin with the October 7 incidents as the occupation has more than a seven-decade history, we call upon Sri Lanka's newly elected President, whose party has supported the Palestinian liberation struggle, to lead the international campaign to intensify efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, end Israel’s genocide in Gaza and end Israel's occupation of Palestine. We believe that unless and until countries impose trade bans and a multiplicity of sanctions on the leaders of Israel, Israel will not de-escalate this murderous rampage.