The so-called ‘humanitarian pause’ is over and Israel is renewing its onslaught on Gaza. Although the pause may have offered a brief glimpse of a potential peace, in reality Israel was still carrying out unspeakable crimes in Gaza, as well as in the West Bank – shooting dead at least 9 children since Friday 1 December. So, Stop The War Coalition (STWC) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) have organised a day of UK action in solidarity with Palestinian people.
They’re holding an organising meeting as well on Tuesday 5 December at 6:30pm. You can register for that here.
Israel: creating a “hellish scenario” in Gaza
As of Tuesday 5 December, Israel was expanding its assault on Gaza into the southern part of the besieged region. However, international aid organisations have warned that civilians in the densely populated territory are running out of places to flee to. Lynn Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, told Agence France-Presse (AFP):
Nowhere is safe in Gaza and there is nowhere left to go… If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond.
Israel has killed nearly 15,900 people in Gaza, around 70% of them women and children. The Occupied West Bank has also seen a surge in violence, with Israeli settlers and security forces killing more than 250 Palestinians since 7 October.
In the Gazan city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, resident Abu Jahar al-Hajj said an air strike near his home felt “like an earthquake”. “Pieces of concrete started falling on us,” he said. In Deir al-Balah further to the north, Walaa Abu Libda found shelter at a hospital, but said her four-year-old daughter remained trapped under rubble.
“I don’t know if she is dead or alive”
“I don’t know if she is dead or alive,” said Libda, one of an estimated 1.8 million people Israel has displaced in Gaza; roughly three-quarters of the population, according to UN figures.
Meanwhile, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that his organisation had received a notification from the Israeli military:
that we should remove our supplies from our medical warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours.
Predictably, Israel denied this – once again accusing another world-leading humanitarian organisation of lying.
In the UK, marches in support of Palestinian people have been ongoing for weeks. But now, STWC and CND have organised a day of workplace action – to highlight Israel’s ongoing atrocities, and show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Stand with Gaza in your workplace
On Thursday 7 December, STWC and CND are calling on all those in work, college or university to ‘Stand With Gaza’ by organising a walkout, lunchtime or early morning protest (or other collective action) calling for our government to call for a permanent ceasefire. You can find out more about the day of action here.
Previously on Wednesday 29 November people took workplace action calling for a permanent ceasefire:
🧵#CeasefireNowDOA actions happening nationwide…#FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #PalestineDay pic.twitter.com/jHSq4CVJ8k
— Stop the War (@STWuk) November 29, 2023
Every collective act, big or small, sends a message to those who are suffering in Gaza that we are with them and puts pressure on our government to call on the Israeli government to stop bombing Gaza.
In the last few weeks the massive movement to bring an end to the Gaza war has given Keir Starmer the biggest jolt of his miserable leadership, forced the Liberal Democrats to back a ceasefire and, most significantly, brought down a semi-fascist Home Secretary. Be in no doubt, none of this would have happened without hundreds of thousands taking to the streets, in London and across the country, to demand that British politicians support a ceasefire and work to end the calamity unfolding in Gaza. Mobilising millions delivers what misery and massacres alone could not — forcing open the political cracks.
There will be an online meeting on Tuesday 5 December at 6.30pm to build the Stand With Gaza Day of Action as well as the National Demonstration on Saturday 9 December. You can register for the 5 December meeting here.
Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse
Featured image via STWC
