UAWC Palestine : 300 Days of Genocide
Read the full statement from the Union of Agricultural Work Committees UAWC
August 1st, 2024, marks 300 days since the Israeli occupation began its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip of Palestine. This year also marks 76 years of ongoing Israeli settler colonialism, land theft, and targeting of indigenous food systems in Palestine. This tragic milestone comes as the intensity of Israeli settler colonialism across all of Palestine – the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the areas occupied in 1948 – continues to rapidly escalate, causing unprecedented suffering and devastation.
The ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip has reached unimaginable levels of destruction, with medical professionals projecting more than 186,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), both directly and indirectly. Additionally, at least 91,073 others have been injured, and more than 10,000 individuals remain buried under the rubble. The tens of thousands of martyrs in the Gaza Strip since October 7 include at least: 16,251 children, 10,921 women, 885 medical staff, 496 educational staff, 283 aid workers, and 165 journalists.
The relentless Israeli attacks – coming from the air, ground, and sea – have forcibly displaced at least 1.9 million Palestinians and damaged or destroyed the majority of buildings in the Gaza Strip. The IOF’s systematic destruction has targeted essential infrastructure, destroying food systems, water and sanitation facilities, health infrastructure, and every facet of civilian life. The health situation is dire, with the Gaza Ministry of Health declaring a polio epidemic amidst widespread outbreaks of skin diseases and other preventable illnesses. The environmental destruction has compounded the crisis, further endangering lives and threatening future recovery.
By intentionally decimating the agricultural and fishing sectors in Gaza – critical to food supply and sustenance – the Israeli occupation has manufactured a disaster zone. As such, UAWC is calling for the Gaza Strip to be declared a famine zone. The majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, over half of whom are children, was food insecure even before the genocide. Now, as Israel wields starvation as a weapon of war, the entirety of Gaza’s population is facing food insecurity, starvation, or famine. At least 96% of the population is facing acute food insecurity, including 2.15 million at crisis levels of hunger, and almost half a million are already in catastrophic conditions according to the IPC scale. In addition to targeting agricultural land, greenhouses, the fishing port, herds, and more, IOF attacks have also targeted water and sanitation infrastructure, essential for health, irrigation, and food processing. Despite the critical humanitarian need for food, clean water, and medical supplies, the Israeli occupation continues to severely limit entry of humanitarian aid.
Parallel to its genocide on Gaza, the Israeli occupation has intensified its settler colonial project in the West Bank. The pace of Israeli land theft, particularly in Area C, has escalated alarmingly, with 23.7 square kilometers (9.15 square miles) of land illegally confiscated in 2024 alone. This marks a record high, surpassing the combined total of the past 20 years. Over 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in nearly 300 illegal settlements and outposts, while at least 790 movement obstacles restrict Palestinian movement and access to their agricultural lands, markets, and resources, further strangling the local economy and food production.
The constant presence of occupation forces, daily military raids, and increasing settler attacks have led to the deaths of nearly 600 Palestinians and injuries to over 5,000 others. Further, settler attacks burn agricultural land, destroy agricultural infrastructure, steal herds, and attempt to intimidate farmers and rural communities in an attempt to forcibly displace them. This has had a devastating impact on Palestinian farmers, who are being systematically dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods. The relentless land theft, resource exploitation, military and settler attacks, and the consequent forced displacement of Palestinian communities are clear tools of Israeli settler colonialism, aimed at erasing Palestinian presence and identity in service of settler colonial expansion.
In light of the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision, which unequivocally affirmed that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip is illegal and must end immediately, UAWC calls on the international community to uphold this ruling. The decision highlights the severe legal consequences of Israel’s persistent violations of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. It is imperative that all parties respect international law and work towards ending the occupation.While we face immense challenges, our resilience and commitment to Palestinian food sovereignty, land justice, and peasants’ rights remain unwavering. As we mark this somber day, UAWC urges the international community and all people of conscience to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people