Re your editorial (The Guardian view on Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza: hunger as a weapon of war, 4 May), what we are witnessing in Gaza is the collective punishment of a civilian population, mostly refugees, who were already living in highly vulnerable conditions following 18 months of what the international court of justice found to be a plausible risk of genocide and 18 years of an Israeli blockade.
That blockade has been tightened further for the past two months, during which hunger has been weaponised, with the apparent aim of ethnically cleansing Gaza. The author Omar El Akkad describes the term “genocide” as a “mechanic of forewarning”, not some “after‑the-fact resolution”. The world should consider itself warned that the genocide in Gaza has entered a new phase of mass starvation with hunger, thirst and disease stalking 2 million people.
The path to de-escalation lies in implementing the second phase of the ceasefire abandoned by Israel on 18 March. Israel has instead threatened to intensify its operations in Gaza, which will be catastrophic for Palestinians with two-thirds of Gaza already designated as either “no-go areas” or “under active displacement orders”. Only external pressure on Israel and the governments complicit in its occupation will prevent this outrage.
The American academic activist Angela Davis has described Palestine as “a moral litmus test for the world” and we as citizens need to act accordingly.Stephen McCloskeyDirector, Centre for Global Education, Belfast
• So much about the situation in Gaza is “shameful” and, as your excellent editorial concludes, that it has “been allowed to happen” is most shameful of all. It is clearly the case that as long as Netanyahu goes unpunished by the world, he will carry on the genocide of Palestinians (Netanyahu says new offensive in Gaza focused on consolidating seizure of territory, 5 May).
Sadly, the crisis for Palestinians in Gaza is one of the many things Keir Starmer doesn’t appear to “get”, but that doesn’t mean Labour MPs should show similar spinelessness: at the very least they should force an emergency debate and vote on action to be taken. Aren’t they ashamed to be abetting the slaughter with arms sales, ashamed that their government hasn’t demanded sanctions against Israelis similar to the ones imposed on Russia, and determined to steer a government that is lost in at least one right direction? Failing that, they should be forcing a leadership contest. Bernie EvansLiverpool
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