‘Israeli aggression wants to undermine the will of Palestinians in Gaza’

The head of the Popular International Committee to Support Gaza has said that the intensive Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip is intended to undermine the will of the Palestinians living in the enclave and crush their spirit. In a press statement, Dr Essam Yousef condemned the latest attacks over the weekend that killed two children and injured many others.

“The occupying state insists on showing off its power against innocent children and unarmed people with every offensive against Gaza,” Yousef explained. He condemned the Israeli targeting of places to which children and civilians go, such as Katiba Square, a park frequented by children and their families; it has become a place for them to get fresh air now that the sea and beaches are so badly polluted as a result of the Israeli-led siege.

“The targeting of the mosque in Al-Katiba Square and the National Library prove without doubt the barbarity of this occupation and the targeting of the identity, culture and legacy of the Palestinian people,” said the veteran activist. “Israel’s attempts to undermine the Palestinian presence in Palestine are a throwback to the times of the Mongols who committed massacres and other atrocities, including the burning of the Library of Baghdad in the thirteenth century.”

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Yousef insisted that the latest Israeli aggression is simply the latest in a chain of offensives against the Gaza Strip throughout the long years of the siege, demonstrating the aggression and arrogance of the Zionist mentality. “The Israeli military machine shows off its power in every attack against children, women and the elderly, who form the largest proportion of its victims. This confirms the cowardice of the occupation’s forces, who are keen to stockpile the latest lethal and sophisticated weapons for use against a largely unarmed population.”

He called upon the international community to stop all forms of Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and to prevent the occupation from turning its latest bombing campaign into an all-out war, as happened in 2008/9, 2012 and 2014. Thousands of innocent people were killed and wounded in those attacks, during which Israel also destroyed the infrastructure across the Gaza Strip.