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ohOn July 20, 2024, the British journal The Lancet – one of the most respected medical journals in the world – published a shocking article about the human massacre currently taking place in Gaza. The article was titled Counting the Gaza death toll: Difficult but necessary The report was written by three medical researchers – Dr. Rasha Khatib of the Advocate Aurora Research Institute, Dr. Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Dr. Salim Yusuf of McMaster University.
The situation in Gaza outlined in the article is so dire and horrific that the article needs to be widely disseminated beyond the extremely limited medical community that usually has access to articles published in The Lancet.
The core content of the article is as follows:-
“According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of June 19, 2024, the Gaza Ministry of Health stated that 37,396 people have died in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack and Israeli invasion in October 2023… However, the reported death toll is likely an underestimate. The NGO Air Wars carries out detailed assessments of events in the Gaza Strip and often finds that not all identifiable victims’ names are included in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list. Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that as of February 29, 2024, 35% of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, so the number of bodies still buried in the rubble is likely to be considerable, estimated at more than 10,000.
“In addition to the direct toll on health, armed conflict also has indirect health impacts. Even if the conflict ended immediately, there would still be a large number of indirect deaths in the months and years ahead, including from reproductive diseases, communicable and non-communicable diseases. The total death toll is expected to be very high due to the intensity of the conflict, the destruction of medical infrastructure, severe shortages of food, water and shelter, the inability of people to flee to safety, and the loss of funding for UNRWA (one of the very few humanitarian organizations still active in the Gaza Strip).
“In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths have ranged from three to 15 times the direct deaths. A conservative estimate is that for every direct death, four indirect deaths occur; and with 37,396 reported deaths, it is not difficult to estimate that the current conflict in Gaza may have resulted in as many as 186,000 deaths or more. Based on the estimated population of the Gaza Strip in 2022 of 2,375,259, this would be equivalent to 7.9% It accounts for 10% of the total population of the Gaza Strip.
Now, part of the significance of this Lancet article is that its eye-opening content provides a solid scientific basis for almost all of the positions that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has taken on the Gaza crisis since the full investigation. Statement on the ongoing situation in Gaza The resolution stems from the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting held in Guyana in February 2024.
In a February 2024 statement, CARICOM condemned “the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza”, which has resulted in “heavy civilian casualties, destruction of critical infrastructure and deprivation of basic necessities, food, water and health care”. CARICOM Heads of Government subsequently urged “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and safe, unhindered access to adequate and sustained humanitarian assistance”, further declaring that “we also strongly advocate for the rule of law and the return of all hostages and those held administratively detained without charge to their families”.
Then, about three months later, On June 3, 2024, CARICOM issued a follow-up statement expressing its agreement and support for the proposal of US President Joseph Biden (with the support of Egypt and Qatar) for a “comprehensive and complete ceasefire”. thereby ending hostilities and developing a major reconstruction plan for Gaza”.
However, despite CARICOM’s full acceptance of Biden’s “three-stage plan, namely, the first stage of a comprehensive and complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza for six weeks and the release of some hostages, the return of Palestinians to their homes and the provision of humanitarian assistance”, the proposal did not achieve any substantive results.
Therefore, as the September 2024 UN General Assembly approaches, the CARICOM leadership may now need to revisit one of the fundamental positions they took at the very compelling and insightful February 2024 meeting. Statement on the ongoing situation in GazaThis position is expressed as follows:
“CARICOM also condemns Israel’s defiance of the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire, as well as the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ)… CARICOM therefore calls on the UN General Assembly to invoke the powers conferred upon it by UN General Assembly Resolution 377A “Uniting for Peace”, to convene an emergency session and make appropriate recommendations to UN Member States to jointly take measures to induce Israel to comply with its obligations under the aforementioned UN resolutions and ICJ orders.”
The Lancet article makes it clear that the Palestinian people (and the rest of the international community) are already facing a nightmare situation in Gaza that will ultimately result in the loss of approximately 8% of Gaza’s population. The article also makes clear that if hostilities are not immediately stopped, the nightmare will only worsen and lead to a further decline in the Palestinian population.
It is therefore against this backdrop that our CARICOM leaders must resolve now to make full use of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in September 2024 and do all they can to push the international community to take concrete action to immediately put an end to this genocide in Gaza.
In short, CARICOM governments must now deliver on an urgent and pressing “Gaza Mission” at the forthcoming UN General Assembly.
David Comissiong is Ambassador of Barbados to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
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