It will take 14 years to clear the rubble and ordnance, some of which is unexploded, from war torn Gaza.

34,350 Palestinians have been killed and over 77,360 wounded since 7th October 2023.  130 Israeli hostages are still being held and many hundreds of Gazans have been taken to detention centres in Israel.

As horror after horror unfolds war crimes being committed by the Israeli Defence Forces on civilians are being reported.  Mass graves are being uncovered in Gaza in which Palestinian victims were found stripped naked with their hands tied.

 A total of 283 bodies were recovered at Nasser Hospital, of which 42 were identified. Bodies were covered in waste material and included the elderly, women and wounded.

Ravina Shamdasani, is the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She said that more bodies had been found at Al-Shifa Hospital.

Of the  34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since 7th October, 14,685 are children and 9,670 women. Another 77,084 have been injured, and over 7,000 others are assumed to be under the rubble, but that number could well be much higher.

Health workers have been targeted. 485 have lost their lives tending the sick and wounded as hospitals have been decimated by the IDF.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said:

“Every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price in this war.”

He condemned Israeli strikes against Rafah in recent days that mainly killed women and children.

This included an attack on an apartment building in the Tal Al Sultan area on 19th April which killed nine Palestinians “including six children and two women”, along with a strike on As Shabora Camp in Rafah a day later that reportedly left four dead, including a girl and a pregnant woman.

“The latest images of a premature child taken from the womb of her dying mother, of the adjacent two houses where 15 children and five women were killed, this is beyond warfare,” he said.

Appeals have been made to Israel for safe passage for a flotilla of boats carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The “Freedom Flotilla” plans to depart from Türkiye carrying 5,500 tonnes of aid, along with hundreds of international humanitarian observers. 

“As the Freedom Flotilla approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, Israel must adhere to international law, including recent orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid,” said experts in human rights, who include Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food.  

In 2010 Israel intercepted and attacked the Freedom Flotilla’s civilian ships in international waters, killing 10 passengers and wounding many others:  Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla sparks international outrage

Meanwhile the UN investigation into Israel’s accusations that UNWRA staff were involved in the October 7th outrageous attack has closed one of the cases because Israel has not provided any supporting evidence. The accusations led to many Western countries withdrawing aid from the relief agency despite no evidence being produced. Three cases have been suspended “as the information provided by Israel is not sufficient for OIOS to proceed with an investigation.” Eight people remain under investigation.

UNRWA has launched a $1.2 billion appeal to meet urgent needs in Gaza and in the West Bank, where massive settler violence is increasing. 

In Orkney, islanders will again gather on the steps of St Magnus Cathedral at 1pm on Saturday 27th April, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the return of all hostages.

The US based Jewish Voice for Peace has countered smears of their organisation and peace campaigners “as dangerous, anti-semitic mobs.” They said:

“As the largest anti-Zionist Jewish organization in the world, we unequivocally reject the conflation of antisemitism with anti-Zionism and reaffirm in the strongest terms that there is no place for antisemitism in our movements. We condemn the false accusations of antisemitism levelled against principled, anti-war protesters to discredit our movements.“

“We call on all people of conscience to remain focused on the urgent work at hand: Ending U.S. weapons and funding to the genocide of Palestinians and reaching an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people depend on it.“

Encampments in support of Palestinians are spreading having been set up in University campus grounds in the US. An encampment has now been set up outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Orkney’s Vigil for Gaza, takes place on Saturday 27th April from 1 to 2pm, St Magnus Cathedral steps, Kirkwall.

Fiona Grahame