Orkney Peace campaigners have welcomed the announced ceasefire in Gaza which is planned to go ahead on Sunday 19 January. The islanders will meet on Saturday 18th between 1 and 2pm at a vigil on the Kirk Green, Broad Street, Kirkwall. The event will include poetry readings to remember the children killed: ‘Don’t Mention the Children’ by Michael Rosen , and ‘ Why Remember’ by Edwin Heath. Those taking part are being encouraged to bring along representations of doves, white ribbons, peace emblems, and dress in white clothing.
The devastation of Gaza has resulted in 90% of the people being displaced, some having to move on multiple times at short notice. Last week The Orkney News revealed evidence that the number killed due to the bombardment has been under reported by 41%. The report in The Lancet published on 9th January 2025, estimated 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injuries. Additional deaths due to hyperthermia, malnutrition, disease, and lack of medical care is likely to exceed 186,000. The number of bodies decomposing under the rubble of buildings is unknown. Hundreds of Palestinians have been transported to prison camps in Israel. It is estimated that 94 hostages taken by Hamas remain captive in Gaza.
The killing continues as over 100 people have lost their lives due to Israeli military action since both Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire. Humanitarian organisations are poised to go in with aid. The World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it has 80,000 tons of food waiting outside Gaza or on its way in, enough to feed more than one million people. More than 2 million people have been left fully dependent on food assistance – they are homeless, and without any income.
The WFP said:
“We need all border crossings open and functioning reliably. We also need humanitarian teams to be able to move freely and safely across Gaza to reach those in need.”
In a statement UNICEF commented:
“Less than half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional, increasing the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and putting children at risk. Water production is at less than 25 per cent capacity. Nearly all of the territory’s 2.1 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity. And 95 per cent of Gaza’s school buildings have been damaged or destroyed.”
The ceasefire is brittle. The framework agreement aims to see the release all Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, whether civilians or soldiers and whether alive or otherwise, in exchange for the freeing of agreed upon numbers of prisoners in Israeli prisons, and a return to sustainable calm, in a way that achieves a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and reconstruction.
The first phase is to last 6 weeks. Hamas releases 33 Israeli detainees (living or dead) in exchange for numbers of prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres. Outgoing President of the USA Joe Biden, announced the terms agreed to in the ceasefire in his final address from the Oval Office, Washington DC, on 15 January.
The deal is like the one proposed by Biden in May 2024. Tens of thousands of people have been slaughtered or suffered life changing injuries since then. Eight babies have frozen to death.
At a Farewell Ceremony as Commander in Chief at Fort Myer, Virginia, the following day, President Biden said:
“It’s taken eight months of nonstop, relentless effort by my administration to get it done, but because of you — all of you standing behind me — because of you, because of so many diplomats and defense professionals, we kept the pressure on Hamas and we got it done. We got it done.”
The USA is the top provider of military aid to Israel. US aid to Israel’s campaign in Gaza was $17.9 billion from October 7, 2023 to 30 September 2024. In one of his final acts, President Biden, announced an additional $8billion of arms sales to Israel.
For the people of Gaza who have survived the genocide perpetrated by Israel they are determined to return to rebuild their communities.
Speaking to UN News, Gazans, living in the filmiest of tents set amongst the debris of buildings, shared their hopes of the ceasefire.
“My plan is to remove the rubble, set up a tent on my land, and live there. All I care about is seeing my home. I hope that Gaza will be rebuilt to the way it was, and that our lives will return to what they were.”
“I want to go back to Gaza City for one reason, and that’s to see my father. When we left our home, I lost something essential in life, my father. When my mother asked me to pray, I refused. I wanted to wait until I could pray with my father.”
Will Gaza ever recover?
Unexploded ordnance, destroyed water systems, fields bombed and trees ripped up. 17,000 children orphaned. Educational institutions, schools and universities, obliterated. Hospitals and the whole system of medical provision – shattered.
“We want to think now about our future. Enough death and destruction. We are tired. We have endured the full heat of summer, and the frost and cold of winter. Children are dying. Every night, I am woken up by the cries of a two-week old baby shivering from the cold. I hope that our conditions will improve. We deserve a better life than this.”
Gaza will recover because of the strength of its people who will bear witness to what they have had to endure when eventually those who have committed war crimes are brought to justice.
UNICEF issued the following statement welcoming the ceasefire:
“This is long overdue for the children and families of Gaza who have endured more than a year of bombardment and deprivation, and for the hostages in Gaza and their families in Israel who have suffered so much.
“The war has exacted a horrific toll on Gaza’s children – reportedly leaving at least 14,500 dead, thousands more injured, an estimated 17,000 unaccompanied or separated from their parents, and nearly one million displaced from their homes.”
And concluded:
“UNICEF strongly urges the parties to urgently forge a lasting political resolution that prioritizes the rights and well-being of this and future generations of children.
“The war in Gaza has already cost children so much. We must act now and work together for a better future for all children.”
The islanders in Orkney welcome all who wish to join them in their hopes for the ceasefire and a lasting peace for Gaza, at their vigil on Saturday.
“The greatest suffering will be the psychological situation. The war has been long, and our families, our children, have witnessed things they should never have seen.” UN News
Fiona Grahame
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