Emma Sulaiman, Staff Writer
Photo//Shutterstock, Rokas Tenys
On October 7, 2023, the war between Palestine and Israel began. It has been ongoing since then, lasting more than 170 days. Currently, at least 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and around 74,000 injured since October 7th. The death toll for Israel remains at 1,139 with some still held captive by Hamas.
On March 25, 2024, humanitarian aid packages were dropped into the sea for Palestinians. Hamas has deemed this way of sending packages as “wrong, inappropriate, and useless” since 12 people drowned trying to retrieve them. Israel replied and said that they have never denied countries to aid Palestinians, and instead support the idea of care packages. However, their actions said otherwise.
A Palestinian man named Mohammad Mershid, 25, stated that while he was held captive, the Israeli soldiers “didn’t even interrogate [them], they were just enjoying torturing [them].” He claimed that some soldiers ripped his chest hair out, spat on him, and that all hostages left needing stitches.
Israel continuously attacked Gazan infrastructure, hospitals, and residential areas, and restricted humanitarian aid to Gazans. These repeated acts are starting to be seen by the rest of the world. Donald Trump even stated that Israel should “finish up” the war in Gaza, as they are beginning to lose international support. The US, this time around, did not veto the demand for a ceasefire. This angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and led him to believe that Hamas will be granted a cease-fire “without the release of [Israel’s] abductees” which will not be the case.
During the holy month of Ramadan, about 30 hospitals filled with civilians have been damaged.
Also, Israel has not abided by the call for a cease-fire, and has continued to “destroy Hamas” – while targeting civilians – until their hostages are returned.