‘Humanity must prevail’

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entered its 12 month yesterday with little sign of respite for the people of the Palestinian territory or hope for Israeli hostages still held captive. 
The chances of a truce that would also free hostages held by Hamas in exchange for prisoners held by Israel appear slim, with both sides sticking doggedly to their positions.
Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that troops must remain on a key strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have all been mediating in an effort to bring about a ceasefire in the conflict that authorities in the Gaza say has killed at least 40,939 people.
According to the United Nations human rights office, most of the dead are women and children.
Israel’s announcement last Sunday that the bodies of six hostages including a US-Israeli citizen had been recovered shortly after being killed sparked grief and anger in Israel.
Marking the anniversary, UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini posted on X yesterday: “Eleven months. Enough. No one can take this any longer. Humanity must prevail. Ceasefire now.”
Meanwhile, the heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies yesterday said they are “working ceaselessly” for a cease-fire in Gaza, using a rare joint public statement to press for peace.
CIA Director William Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation.”
In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, the two spymasters said a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war “could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement.”
International pressure to end the war was further underlined by Friday’s shooting dead in the West Bank of a Turkish-American activist demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied territory.
The family of 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi has demanded an independent investigation into her death, saying yesterday her life “was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military”.
The UN rights office said Israeli forces killed Eygi with a “shot in the head”.
Ankara said she was killed by “Israeli occupation soldiers”, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Israeli action as “barbaric”.
Washington called her death “tragic”, and has pressed its close ally Israel to investigate.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank — where about 490,000 people live — are illegal under international law.
Since Hamas’s October 7 attack, Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 662 Palestinians in the West Bank which Israel occupied in 1967, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Eygi’s death came on the day Israeli forces withdrew from a deadly 10-day raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, where AFP journalists reported residents returning home to widespread destruction.
AFP reporters said several air strikes and shelling rocked gaza overnight and early yesterday.
At least 61 Palestinians have been killed and 162 were injured in the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave said in the afternoon.
However, Al Jazeera later reported that a total of 24 people were killed in Israeli attacks since the early hours, up from the 18 we reported earlier.
As Gaza enters its second school year without schooling, most of its children are caught up helping their families in the daily struggle to survive amid Israel’s devastating campaign.
Children trod barefoot on the dirt roads to carry water in plastic jerricans from distribution points to their families living in tent cities teeming with Palestinians driven from their homes. Others wait at charity kitchens with containers to bring back food.
Humanitarian workers say the extended deprivation of education threatens long-term damage to Gaza’s children. Younger children suffer in their cognitive, social and emotional development, and older children are at greater risk of being pulled into work or early marriage, said Tess Ingram, regional spokesperson for UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children.
The longer a child is out of school, the more they are at risk of dropping out permanently and not returning,” she said.
Gaza’s 625,000 school-age children already missed out on almost an entire year of education. More than 90 percent of Gaza’s school buildings have been damaged by Israeli bombardment, many of them run by UNWRA, the UN agency for Palestinians, according to the Global Education Cluster, a grouping of aid organizations led by UNICEF and Save the Children. About 85 percent are so wrecked they need major reconstruction — meaning it could take years before they are usable again. Gaza’s universities are also in ruins. Israel contends that Hamas militants operate out of schools.
Some 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes. They have crowded into the sprawling tent camps that lack water or sanitation systems, or UN and government schools now serving as shelters.