Israel and Hamas must be punished for not assisting or allowing various humanitarian aid organizations to perform their jobs inside the war-torn Gaza.
Israel military authorities have repeatedly denied accusations that they are blocking the Red Cross and other humanitarian aid agencies. But recent eyewitness reports show that they have refused to cooperate by not giving assistance and security to these organizations in the pursuit of their mandate to render support or assistance to those who are in need.
If Hamas is doing the same, they should likewise be punished.
Yahoo reports, The International Red Cross accused the Israel forces yesterday of failing to assist wounded Palestinians and of ‘unacceptable delays in letting rescue work reach a Gaza home where four small children were found alive next to their mother’s bodies’.
The Israel Army refused rescuers permission to reach the site in the Zytun neighborhood of Gaza City for days, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
Israeli officials denied this and said that the delay was caused by fighting in the area. Red Cross officials in the area said that Israel’s actuation are ‘shocking’.
In may be understandable if the two warring sides do not honor the recent United Nations resolution calling for immediate ceasefire, but for the parties to ignore or refuse to render assistance to the humanitarian groups who are known to be neutral, as their profile and history would show, is like refusing the right to life of the helpless victims of war.
This deliberate act of refusing assistance and support to all civic and humanitarian groups who are known to have exhibited neutrality in the pursuit of their advocacy must be condemned by the international community and all peace-loving countries of the world. The offending party must be punished in accordance with appropriate and existing international laws.
If the United Nations cannot push for the implementation of the resolution for an immediate ceasefire between the parties, the least that the UN can do is to pass a resolution that would allow these humanitarian groups to perform immediate, unhampered civic and humanitarian services in the area.
And when this resolution is passed, Israel and Hamas must be compelled to honor it or the international armed force will be constituted by the UN to assure its implementation. Actions of this kind have been resorted to by the United Nations in the past and there is not reason why it cannot be done in the case of Hamas-Israel war.
The UN must be firmed and resolute with regards to human rights violations and abuse. All peace loving countries of the world are calling the UN to act now in order to preserve the lives of innocent victims of war.
In the meantime victims of war in Gaza and Israel, especially innocent children, will continue to suffer and human rights violations will continue to remain unpunished unless the United Nations moves swiftly to save innocent lives.