- Anas Al-Mahi
In a daily scene that has become all too familiar to a world numb to compassion, Palestinians in Gaza are starved, mercilessly killed, and their homes demolished over the heads of their women and children. What is happening in Gaza is no longer a mere military assault—it is a documented act of genocide, recognized in UN reports and witnessed by history and whatever remains of humanity’s conscience.
A United Nations independent commission has confirmed that Israel has committed a war crime by using starvation as a weapon against Gaza’s population. The complete blockade was labeled as collective punishment, a practice forbidden under international law. Even more damning, Israeli officials such as Yoav Gallant and Yisrael Katz made public declarations clearly exposing their intent to use hunger as a tool of extermination.
In a powerful and unforgettable statement, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, described what is unfolding in Gaza as a genocide “whose brutality exceeds all limits,” stressing that the Palestinian tragedy is the tragedy of every free human being on Earth.
A full year has passed, and the bloodshed continues. More than 51,800 Palestinians have been killed or are missing, including 16,000 children and 11,400 women. We have witnessed children born only to die in bombings, infants buried before even uttering their first cries.
And if war means bombs and death, hunger in Gaza is a slow and cruel execution. Famine is sweeping through the strip, with prices reaching unimaginable heights, basic goods disappearing, and the occupation closing all crossings and blocking food and medicine. Children are dying live on screen, peoples’ hearts are breaking, yet Arab regimes respond with nothing but meaningless condemnations, as if hollow words could absolve them of their silence.
The world is beginning to awaken. Even Europe, long a staunch supporter of Israel, has begun to shift. The Catalonia region of Spain announced the closure of its trade office in Tel Aviv. Spanish MP Jessica Albiach called the situation a “genocide,” while EU parliamentarian Cecilia Strada openly declared: “Israel is violating international humanitarian law.”
As for the Arab world? From silence to betrayal—no weapons, no dignity, no stance. How can a nation watch its children slaughtered and remain idle? Is this disgrace not enough to shake the halls of those sitting comfortably in palaces? How will we face our children tomorrow and say we were once called Arabs, once called Muslims?
Even humanitarian aid—once seen as a lifeline—has become a trap of death. Food distribution centers have turned into killing fields. More than 851 Palestinians have been martyred, and thousands wounded while trying to reach a piece of bread. This is not relief—it is deliberate starvation, collective punishment, a policy of slow murder.
And yet, Arab media continues to deceive the people, selling illusions, repackaging surrender as “diplomatic achievements.”
O my nation, is it not time to scream? Is it not time for your anger to be born? Or has the death of Gaza’s children become just another statistic on the evening news ?
