Wajeeh Ullah 

                                                 ''Remember what Amalec has done to you''

The phrase is a biblical phrase from the Old Testament, found in the book of Exodus. It refers to the assaults carried out by non-Jewish followers on Jews when they were heading towards the Promised Land from Egypt. The phrase dates back to 3000 years. It is known that incidents linked to a nation's national pride and ideology are never actually buried in History. They resurface from time to time in the hour of national emergency. Now these lines were repeated by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he renewed the war against Iran and Hamas. Getting references from historical texts is not a disgraceful act, but it surely becomes so when it is put in the wrong context and with malicious intentions.

It is day 689 of the Genocide that the IDF is orchestrating against the helpless Gazans. The war against the Hamas attacks started as an act of defence, but it gradually transformed into a total genocide of the population of Rafah, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. The IDF actions have been termed as a classical textbook Genocide. A live Genocide the world is witnessing every day.

The history of the term “Genocide” dates back to World War II. The war ended with a ton of misery, mass killings, and turmoil. It completely exposed the brutality of human nature and its capacity to engage in heinous crimes against humanity. The Jewish population of Germany, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia suffered the most at the hands of the Nazi fanatics. Millions of Jews were exterminated and massacred by their fellow human beings and countrymen. It was not until 1944 that the term genocide was coined. The person who coined this term, Raphael Lemkin, was a Jewish Polish lawyer. He was striving to find a relevant term for all the mass killings and atrocities humans have inflicted on their fellow humans because of the differences in race, ethnicity, and religion. As the Holocaust took place, Lemkin jotted the Greek word genos, meaning group or family, with the Latin suffix cede, which means to kill. He worked relentlessly after the war to recognise the crimes of the Holocaust as genocide.

The war ended with the bombing of Japanese cities. World leaders decided to formulate an international liberal order, so the United Nations was founded in 1945. The United Nations extended the new liberal world order emerging in Europe. The member countries aimed to build an international community that embodies principles of Justice, Harmony, Equality, Mutual cooperation, and retribution for those who have ultimately suffered in war crimes against humanity. In this regard, the United Nations passed the Geneva Convention that followed the extensive struggle led by Raphael Lemkin. The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide lays the foundational principles for Genocide. The convention marks that.

1.     It will be counted as Genocide if the members of an ethnic, national, racial, and religious group are facing systematic and planned persecution.

2.     The convention highlights that the intent shown to destroy in whole or in part a group will be taken as Genocide measures.

3.     The convention makes it clear that the infliction of mental or physical pain on a group relentlessly is a case for Genocide.

4.     The convention marks deliberate attempts to harm a group as Genocidal measures.

In the light of the following principles, Israel’s ongoing one-sided war in Gaza is a textbook case of Genocide. Before initiating the counterattack, Israel defined three goals to achieve during the attack. They were dismantling Hamas’s military strength completely, ending the group's governance in the enclave, and most importantly, bringing the hostages back to Israel. Many political analysts and war experts have established that Hamas's fighting capability has been destroyed in full capacity, its top leadership is gone, and the fighters are lacking the capacity to retaliate against the heavy Aerial bombings. But still, Israel is continuing its assault on the poor, helpless, aid-seeking Gaza population. Most recently, more than 600 former members of the Israeli Security Establishment requested President Donald Trump in an open Letter to end Israel's retaliation, as it is tormenting its legitimate security position in the region. They said,

                     “It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,”

further stressing the point that Israel's third objective can only be achieved through diplomacy and a deal. The signatories of this letter included many famous personalities, such as the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Three Former Mossad chiefs, the Former Israeli Defence Minister, and the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since Oct 7^th, Israel has carried out mass atrocities in the enclave. 70% of Gaza's Infrastructure is destroyed, and more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed. Out of these 60,000, 170,000 are just children, with 1000 being less than 2 years. According to the UN, Gaza needs a daily entrance of 600 trucks to prevent the possibility of mass deaths by starvation and famine. According to the estimates, clearing the rubble in the Gaza Strip will take more than 10 years. Additionally, more than 10,000 people are believed to be buried under the rubble.

Israel breached the ceasefire agreement formerly enacted on 19^th January this year. The ceasefire was linked to a prisoner swap between the parties. It ended as the IDF resumed its aerial bombings in March this year. The Israeli government is constantly under local pressure to bring back the 20 hostages alive to Israel. Their families are daily protesting, arranging processions, and taking part online to get the hostages back. But no one is caring here for the hopeless Gaza men, women, and children who are on the brink of famine.

Since May, Israel and the USA have organised a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to supply and distribute aid and food. The GHF has remained under staunch criticism worldwide. Critics say it has failed to provide a safe zone for aid distribution, as more than 1000 Palestinians have been killed since May this year. Gunshots from the IDF killed these.

The situation in Gaza is gruesome. Food is being air-dropped, health facilities are on the brink of a complete shutdown, electricity and communication are completely disrupted, and sanitation facilities are not provided. The whole situation is a blatant act of Genocide. It poses a serious responsibility on the liberal world powers to act drastically as time passes by, and the humanitarian crisis deepens day by day.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of The Himalayan Research Institute Pakistan - (THRIP)

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Wajeeh Ullah is a student of BS Political Science at Government College University Lahore, Pakistan.