After more than 400 days of waging a brutal war of extermination on the besieged population of Gaza, the Netanyahu-led Israeli regime has been forced into a ceasefire. The agreement, announced on January 15, 2025, and implemented on January 19, brought a halt to the relentless bombardment that left the region in ruins.
The human cost of Israel’s war on Gaza is staggering. Before the ceasefire came into effect, officially over 47,000 Palestinians were killed, most of them women, children, and the elderly. This death toll, based only on deaths reported in hospitals, doesn’t capture the full extent of the devastation, as thousands of bodies remain buried under the rubble due to civil defence teams being unable to retrieve them. Hundreds of bodies and body parts strewn across the Gaza Strip bear witness to the relentless bombings and summary executions carried out by Israeli forces. According to a recent study published in Lancet medical journal, the Gaza death toll is 41 percent higher than official figures.
Entire families were erased from civil records, neighbourhoods reduced to dust, and essential infrastructure obliterated. Hospitals, schools, mosques, and shelters for displaced civilians—all were deliberately targeted in a campaign that sought not merely to break the spirit of Gaza’s people, but to erase their very existence.
Even in the face of unimaginable devastation, the people of Gaza have shown extraordinary resilience. Images of children smiling and playing among the ruins, and survivors clearing debris while chanting “We will rebuild Gaza more beautiful,” are testaments to their unyielding determination to resist Israel’s genocidal crimes. The people of Gaza continue to hold on to their dream of freedom and justice, proving that even in the face of annihilation, their spirit cannot be extinguished.
Netanyahu now Aiming Guns on West Bank
While the ceasefire has provided temporary relief for Gaza, it has not paused Israel’s broader genocidal ambitions. In the shadow of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel’s genocidal machine has turned its full force on the occupied West Bank.
On January 21, the Israeli military launched a large-scale invasion of Jenin with airstrikes, the destruction of homes and roads, and a siege of the town. People walking on the roads are being executed by Israeli snipers with absolute impunity. In the past few weeks only, more than 13 Palestinians, including children were killed.
In addition to the attack on Jenin, Israeli settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank has reached unprecedented levels. Palestinian villages like Burin, Huwara, and Masafer Yatta have been subjected to pogrom-like violence. Settlers, emboldened by the backing of the Israeli state, have burned homes, uprooted ancient olive groves, and lynched Palestinian civilians with impunity. Israeli forces have also launched widespread checkpoints across the occupied West Bank, harassing and intimidating Palestinians as a form of collective reprisal against the population for celebrating and expressing joy during the January 19 release of prisoners illegally detained and kidnapped by Israel. The goal is clear: to depopulate Palestinian areas and pave the way for further annexation.
As Israel’s genocidal war intensifies in the West Bank, another aspect that is worrying and will have tremendous repercussions is the conspicuous silence of Mohammed Abbas-led Palestinian Authority (PA). Security coordination between PA forces and the Israeli military is still intact, even as Palestinians are being slaughtered. In December 2024, the forces of Abbas had also launched a large-scale siege and assault on Jenin camp.
End Complicity, Strengthen Solidarity
Israel’s actions in both Gaza and the West Bank are made possible by the steady support and complicity from imperialist powers, particularly the United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid annually. European governments, while occasionally offering mild condemnations, continue to arm Israel and shield it from accountability. In India, Modi government’s silence in the face of Israeli genocide in Gaza is not only a diplomatic failure but a betrayal of historical principles rooted in our country’s freedom struggle. It is crucial that the people of India reclaim their historical legacy of solidarity with Palestine.
While the world momentarily holds its breath, the reality is still that the forces of Israeli settler-colonialism, led by the reactionary Netanyahu regime, will do everything in their power to destabilize this ceasefire and prevent any genuine peace or justice for the Palestinian people. The ceasefire must not be seen as an end, but as a step toward the larger goal of Palestinian liberation.
Israel’s genocidal ambitions may shift from one front to another, but the spirit of Palestine endures. We must stand unwaveringly with the Palestinian people in Gaza and West Bank, amplifying their voices and demanding an end to the occupation, apartheid, and genocide. The struggle for Palestine is not just the struggle of the Palestinian people—it is a struggle for the oppressed and marginalized everywhere.
- Issued by CPI(ML) Liberation
January 22, 2025, New Delhi
