GAZA, 17 APRIL: 37 DEAD IN MAKESHIFT TENTS – A MASSACRE TURNED ROUTINE

Autopsy of a programmed carnage and the complicit silence of Western powers

DEATH IN SERIES

Since 7 October 2023, the Gaza Strip has endured continuous bombardment by the Israeli army. As of 17 April 2025, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the vast majority of them non-combatant civilians: women, children, the elderly. The figures vary by source but converge on one point: at least 13,000 children are among the dead, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The UN now describes Gaza as the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.

The strikes of 17 April targeted displaced civilians in Al-Mawassi, Beit Lahia and Khan Younis. The result: 37 deaths, including children. No humanitarian corridor was active in these areas. No warning. No escape. These attacks, like countless others, have gone uncommented by the Israeli army.

A TERRITORY TURNED INTO A DEATH TRAP

Gaza is no longer a warzone. It is a slaughter zone: segmented, isolated, starved. Over 1.9 million Palestinians — 85% of the population — are now internally displaced, according to UNRWA. Most live in makeshift tents, without access to clean water or basic healthcare. Hospitals have been systematically targeted, as documented by Médecins du Monde and Amnesty International. In March 2024, Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, was partially destroyed. As of April 2025, only one partially functioning hospital remains in the south.

Testimonies collected by Le Monde and Al Jazeera describe repeated strikes on zones designated as “humanitarian areas” by the Israeli army itself. In Khan Younis, a Palestinian doctor states:

“They tell us to go south, then they bomb the south. There is no safe place. They want us to die, wherever we are.”

(Testimony, Le Monde, February 2024)

FAMINE AS A WEAPON

On 18 March 2025, a UN report confirmed that Gaza is facing imminent famine. The World Health Organization estimates that over 31% of children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition. The World Food Programme ceased deliveries in January 2025, citing the impossibility of safe access.

The Israeli army controls all entry points. The few authorised convoys are blocked, searched or diverted. The Israeli government has never denied this strategy of restriction. In December 2023, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stated:

“Not a single gram of food should enter Gaza until the hostages are freed.”

(Haaretz, 12/12/2023)

PROTECTED IMPUNITY

Despite repeated accusations of violations of international humanitarian law, no concrete sanctions have been applied. The United States continues to supply weapons to Israel, with over $14 billion in military aid approved over six months, according to the US Congress. The European Union issues verbal condemnations but maintains its trade agreements.

The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary investigation. Yet diplomatic pressure remains strong. No arrest warrant has been issued. The massacres continue.

COMPLICIT SILENCE

Western media coverage oscillates between denial, relativism and euphemisation. The word “genocide” is carefully avoided by major newspapers. We read of “retaliation”, “collateral damage”, “asymmetric warfare”.

Jean-François Corty, president of Médecins du Monde, warns:

“International humanitarian law is now at a tipping point. If Gaza does not set a precedent, then nothing will protect civilians in any conflict.”

(Le Monde, September 2024)

A CHAIN OF RESPONSIBILITY

The perpetrators of this carnage are not only those who press the trigger. They also include those who supply the weapons, block resolutions, look away, refuse to name. A complete chain of political, economic and media responsibility has consolidated around the Israeli government.

This is not a natural disaster. It is a systematic military campaign, justified by a security rhetoric, tolerated by global powers. Humanitarian law has become selective. It applies based on the identity of the victims.

ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS

Gaza is not a battlefield. It is an open-air mass grave. The numbers are there. The evidence is there. The bodies are there. Only the political will to name the facts is missing: war crime, collective punishment, ethnic cleansing, genocide. These are not exaggerations. They are the only words that match the reality.

As long as bombers fly without fear of prosecution, as long as Western states continue to sign defence contracts while children scream under rubble, we are all collectively responsible.

This is not a conflict. It is a global moral collapse. And it has a name: Gaza!

G.S.