It’s a tactic of warfare that has been used since kings and armies went to war: laying siege to a city to the point where the starving populace either dies or surrenders. Jeremiah describes the effects of siege in his Lamentations. Now, frustrated by its inability to root out and destroy Hamas, whatever that means, Israeli authorities are laying siege to the Jabaliyah refugee camp north of Gaza City.
Since September 30, no trucks of food, water, or medicine have entered northern Gaza, but people there say that to evacuate to the south makes no sense since that area is constantly being bombed. Known as the “Generals’ Plan,” human rights groups stated this approach flies in the face of international law prohibiting the use of food and forcible transfers as weapons of war.
As in most sieges, noncombatants will pay the cost. Just as Jeremiah lamented “the city once full of people,” even rodents are fair targets to feed the starving – if you can find one. We decry such tactics but continue to ship arms to Israel for so-called “defensive” purposes. Something has to change. Wringing our hands is not enough.
Prayer for the Day
Have times changed, O God, or are we just as brutal,
Not caring about victims of war and terror?
Generals and armies have their way, O Lord,
While we stand aside with weak calls for peace.
Rouse us, O Holy One, shake us out of our ineptitude,
So a people can have a chance to live.
In the name of the One who calls us to be peacemakers,
Even Crist Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
They will either have to surrender or to starve. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to kill every person. It will not be necessary. People will not be able to live there (the north). The water will dry up.
Giora Eiland, former head Israeli National Security Council
I’m most concerned by how the plan seems to say that if the population is given a chance to evacuate and they don’t, then somehow they all turn into legitimate military targets, which is absolutely not the case.
Tania Hary, GISHA, an Israeli human rights group
How lonely sits the city that once was full ft people!
How like a widow she has become, she that was great among nations!
The Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:1