desperate people

Israel's blockade of Gaza is a war crime*, but the world will not say so.

Desperate Gazans themselves spoke out today when they blew up the wall separating them from Egypt. Tens of thousands have crossed the normally-sealed border to obtain both critical and ordinary supplies unavailable at home.

Much of the beleaguered territory's 1.5 million residents have faced critical shortages of electricity, fuel, food, medicine and other supplies for months, but in the last week the closure has been tightened dramatically by Tel Aviv.

But we all knew this already, didn't we? So . . . .

*
Article 54 of the additional protocol of the 1949 Geneva Conventions states that starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited, and that it is also prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, "whatever the motive".

[image by Abid Katib from Getty Images via NYTimes]