Mahar: Israel’s military assault a systematic erasure of Palestinian life, dignity, and memory

MALAYSIAN Humanitarian Aid & Relief (MAHAR) condemned Israel’s barbaric military assault on Gaza, breaking the ongoing ceasefire during the month of Ramadan and with the support of the American administration.

The deliberate timing of these attacks -targeting families observing iftar, bombing mosques during nightly prayers, obliterating entire families and residential blocks - exposes a calculated cruelty that defies all moral and religious boundaries.

These strikes, which shattered a fragile ceasefire agreement brokered just weeks prior, have reignited a cycle of bloodshed and despair, leaving Gaza’s 2.3 million residents trapped in what survivors describe as a “killing box”.

“The renewed bombardment, which began on 18 March, has killed over 326 Palestinians, including 65 children, inundated hospitals with 500 critically wounded civilians, and displaced 10,000 people now sheltering in scorched streets and UNRWA schools.

“Critical infrastructure lies in ruins: water pipelines, electricity grids, and 50 civilian structures reduced to rubble,” said Mahar advisor, Nurul Izzah Anwar.

She said survivors recount harrowing scenes of worshippers buried under debris during Tarawih prayers, while children search for parents in the wreckage of their homes.

“This is not war; it is a systematic erasure of Palestinian life, dignity, and memory.

“The international community, especially America’s failure to hold Israel accountable for violating the ceasefire - a temporary respite that offered Gaza’s starving families fleeting hope - is complicity,”.

Izzah said the ceasefire collapse was triggered by Israel’s invasion of Rafah, a designated “safe zone” where displaced families were massacred in their tents.

“This aggression, coupled with the blockade of aid convoys, has left bakeries empty, hospitals without anaesthetics, and newborns dying in incubators cut off from power.

“The Ramadan moon, once a symbol of unity, now illuminates mass graves,” stressed Izzah.

“We demand immediate action: The United Nations Security Council must enforce binding resolutions to halt all military operations, restore the ceasefire, and prosecute Israel for its war crimes under the Rome Statute,”.

She said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Arab League cannot remain passive while holy sites are desecrated and international law mocked,”.

“We call on every individual, group and government to denounce this latest murderous spree and reinstate the efforts in securing peace by holding a genocidal rogue state accountable,” she added. – March 19, 2025