Gaza has been deliberately made "uninhabitable"

This was the plan all along

Three months into Israel’s brutal assault on the enclave, the UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has described Gaza as “uninhabitable”, warning that Gaza’s 2.3 million people face widespread famine and disease.

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, says that most young children and pregnant women aren’t getting enough nutrition, with fewer than 200 aid trucks entering Gaza every day — less than half the prewar level — and distribution hampered by the fighting. A survey by UNICEF found that 90% of children under the age of two are eating two or fewer of the five essential food groups each day, mainly bread or milk. A quarter of pregnant women said they only eat one food group a day.

What this means is that, on top of those directly killed by Israel — probably around 30,000 people, mostly women and children, if we consider those still trapped under the rubble, amounting to more than 1% of the Strip’s pre-war population — countless Gazans, potentially hundreds of thousands, face almost certain death. Indeed, many people are certainly already dying from malnutrition, disease and lack of basic medical care — and even though they’re not counted as victims of the Israeli operation, they obviously are.

Consider the following: according to Save the Children, more than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since October 7, with many amputations performed without anaesthesia.

“The impact of seeing children in that much pain and not having the equipment, medicines to treat them or alleviate pain is too much for even experienced professionals”, said Jason Lee, Save the Children’s director for the occupied Palestinian territory.

On top of the immense suffering they’ve already gone through, and which those lucky enough to survive will be condemned to for the rest of their lives, how many children will die because their wounds aren’t adequately treated, joining the more than 8,000 children who have already been killed?

None of this is unintended. Making Gaza “uninhabitable” was Israel’s strategy all along.

As Giora Eiland, former head of Israel’s National Security Council, wrote on October 13, Israel should aim “to create conditions where life in Gaza becomes unsustainable” so that “the entire population of Gaza will either move to Egypt or move to the Gulf”. Ultimately, Gaza must “become a place where no human being can exist”. Well, that objective has been accomplished.

This was achieved via a two-pronged approach.