Sir, – I am horrified by the rising death toll and near total abandonment of international law we are witnessing in Gaza. After two weeks of full-scale siege and heavy bombardment, I fear that if a ground invasion goes ahead, the worst is yet to come.
On Tuesday I received the tragic news that the eight-year-old daughter of a staff member working for Christian Aid’s local partner was killed in an airstrike that struck her home in northern Gaza. Her name was Habiba. She enjoyed art and aspired to become a doctor.
In her message, Habiba’s grief-stricken mother said: “She was carrying a colouring brush and not a weapon, she is a child with a lot of dreams. They killed her dreams and they deprived me from enjoying the light of my beautiful Habiba.”
Habiba is just one of more than 2,000 children killed in Gaza by Israeli bombing since 7th October.
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At the weekend it was reported that the Israeli army dropped leaflets over Gaza city warning people that they may be considered “complicit with a terrorist organisation” if they remain in their homes.
However, many civilians, including our partners and their families remain in northern Gaza. International humanitarian law is abundantly clear – there can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of civilians or indiscriminate attacks on civilian neighbourhoods. The Irish Government and EU leaders must defend this basic, lifesaving principle.
A ceasefire is needed now before more civilian life is needlessly lost. – Yours, etc,
ROSAMOND BENNETT,
Chief executive,
Christian Aid Ireland,
Dublin 2.