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Amnesty: Gaza war nightmare does not end with ceasefire

January 17, 2025 at 11:41 am

Smoke, rising over the destroyed and heavily damaged residential areas following the Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip, is seen from Sderot, Israel on January 14, 2025. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

The overdue ceasefire in the besieged Gaza Strip will not repair the lives of Palestinians shattered by Israel’s genocide, Amnesty International has said.

“The news that a ceasefire deal has been reached will bring some glimmer of relief to Palestinians victims of Israel’s genocide. But it is bitterly overdue,” the rights group’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, said yesterday.

“For Palestinians, who have endured more than 15 months of devastating and relentless bombardment, have been displaced from their homes repeatedly, and are struggling to survive in makeshift tents without food, water and basic supplies, the nightmare will not be over even if the bombs cease,” her statement said.

“For Palestinians who have lost countless loved ones; in many cases had their entire families wiped out or seen their homes reduced to rubble, an end to the fighting does not begin to repair their shattered lives or heal their trauma,” it added.

Callamard stressed that Israel’s “continuous and deliberate” denial and obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza has left civilians facing unprecedented levels of hunger where children have starved to death.

“The international community, which has thus far shamefully failed to persuade Israel to comply with its legal obligations, must ensure Israel immediately allows lifesaving supplies to urgently reach all parts of the occupied Gaza Strip to ensure the survival of the Palestinian population.”

The rights watchdog chief warned that unless Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza is promptly lifted, the Palestinians’ suffering will only continue and demanded Tel Aviv urgently grant access to independent human rights monitors into Gaza to uncover evidence and reveal the extent of violations.

Late on Wednesday, Qatar announced that Hamas and Israel had reached a ceasefire deal scheduled to go into effect on Sunday.

Read: Israel has killed over 100 Palestinians since ceasefire announced