MILITARY STRIKES

For the third time in less than six years, on July 8th, 2014, Israel launched a military strike against the Gaza Strip, sending harms way to tens of thousands of people. Countless war crimes have been committed on both sides throughout the years, with neither group holding anyone accountable. In a disturbed way, it seems as though these enemies enjoy making use of inhumane war tactics, since no outside force is stopping them.

Israeli forces have fired ten times the amount of artillery and weapons than Palestinians have, leaving the Gaza Strip barely standing a chance. Israel recklessly projected artillery and tank shells into unarmed, residential areas. These areas included locations such as schools, homes, and hospitals, all of which posed no threat or desire to induce combat. Many of the schools were providing refuge for homeless, scared families, who, without warning, have been bombed out of shelters and far too frequently killed. Hospitals as supposed to serve as a safe haven for wounded civilians, but even medical centers now fall victim to the Israeli bomb strikes.

While Palestinian armed groups have fought back on much smaller degrees, through methods of artillery and execution of Israeli conspirators, their efforts have not came marginally close to the damage caused by Israel’s forces. “We couldn’t hear the kids, their voices had completely gone. That’s when I realized they were all dead,” said Khalil Abed Hassan, a Palestinian father who lost three of his four children from an Israeli air strike in July 2014.

No family should have to experience such peril and tragedy over a war that is not their responsibility. International authorities need to begin investigation and prosecution immediately over parties who are accountable for brutal, inhumane war crimes that have taken place, before more innocent lives are permanently damaged.