TruePublica Editor: No one, in their right mind, would dispute the fact that after the October 7th Hamas attack, Israel had the right to defend itself and to hunt down the perpetrators. Over a year later what has unfolded is a nightmare. As the Lancet article below clearly states, what is happening in Gaza is not just a profound moral failure of the international community; it has actively looked the other way and allowed atrocities to continue daily completely unchecked. Humanitarian principles dictate that civilians, particularly children and pregnant women, must be protected. They are not.

The official death toll as of 9th October was 43,552, of which 60 per cent are known to have died who are not male or of fighting age. Astonishingly, 20,000 children are lost, buried under rubble or detained. Further data, according to the most conservative estimate that they could calculate, at least 62,413 people in Gaza have thus far died from starvation, most of them young children, as well as at least 5,000 estimated deaths from lack of access to care for chronic diseases.

In brief, the description of war crimes is: “an act carried out during the conduct of a war that violates accepted international rules of war.” The bombing of shelters, hospitals, schools, camps, infrastructure and any form of escape constitutes war crimes. The needless killing of civilians and starving them are classed as war crimes. But what is being witnessed now is something not reported. The Lancet report says it all.

 

Published By The Lancet Oct 24th 2024: The ongoing Israeli military assault on Gaza has led to an alarming humanitarian catastrophe, whereby the onset of famine is coupled with a deterioration of maternal health services, severely impacting the well-being of pregnant women and of children. The near-total collapse of the health-care infrastructure, coupled with the lack of access to essential medical services, has resulted in a tragic surge in preventable maternal and neonatal deaths.

As advocates in the medical sector, it is our duty to bring attention to these harrowing cases and call for immediate international intervention.

Our teams, comprising international physicians working in tandem with local Palestinian healthcare workers, have witnessed first-hand the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure during medical missions. People are being left to navigate an impossible situation: the once-celebratory event of childbirth has now become a matter of survival. Prenatal care is virtually non-existent in Gaza.

The rise in premature labour is staggering, often triggered by the chronic stress of displacement, malnutrition, and the trauma of witnessing air strikes. As hospitals struggle to keep up with mass casualties, maternity wards are becoming non-functional.

In some cases, women have had to deliver babies outside, in unsanitary conditions, without the assistance of midwives or doctors.This reproductive violence is not just a consequence of the military assault—it is a deliberate outcome of policies that restrict access to health care. The targeting of maternity hospitals and the blockade that limits essential medical supplies, such as anaesthetics and maternity kits, from entering Gaza have turned pregnancy into a life-threatening condition for thousands of women.

Our colleagues in Gaza and local physicians who face the horrors of this large-scale violence daily report an unprecedented rise in maternal deaths, miscarriages, and stillbirths. The malnutrition that many pregnant women endure only exacerbates these outcomes.

Without access to proper nutrition or health care, they are forced to carry pregnancies through conditions unfathomable to the human conscience. This blockade, now in its second decade and ever-tightened over the last few months, has compounded the suffering, with dire implications for future generations. The prevention of births within Gaza is not merely collateral damage—it is a violation of international law, a grim reminder of the structural violence imposed on this population.

What is happening in Gaza is a profound moral failure of the international community, which has allowed these atrocities to persist unchecked. Humanitarian principles dictate that civilians, particularly children and pregnant women, must be protected.

Yet, every day, Gaza’s mothers are denied their most basic right—the ability to give birth in safety and dignity. The women of Gaza are not just statistics; they are mothers who mourn the loss of children they will never know. They are survivors of a crime that continues to strip them of their humanity.

The world cannot remain silent any longer. The time for action is now—to restore access to health care, to protect women and children, and to uphold the sanctity of life.

We declare no competing interests.

 
 
Via Wikipedia on War Crimes: Since the start of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the UN Human Rights Council has identified “clear evidence” of war crimes by both Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces.  A UN Commission to the Israel–Palestine conflict stated that there is “clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the latest explosion of violence in Israel and Gaza, and all those who have violated international law and targeted civilians must be held accountable.” On 27 October, a spokesperson for the OHCHR called for an independent court to review potential war crimes committed by both sides.

On 29 December, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel’s conduct amounted to genocide.

The International Criminal Court confirmed that its mandate to investigate alleged war crimes committed since June 2014 in the State of Palestine extends to the current conflict. On May 20, 2024, Chief Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan announced his intention to seek arrest warrants against leaders of both sides of the conflict, including Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israeli leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
 
 
 
 

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