Image by Emad El Byed.

The situation in Gaza today starkly highlights Israeli exceptionalism. Israel is employing the starvation of two million Palestinians in the blockaded and devastated Gaza Strip as a tactic to extract political concessions from Palestinian groups operating there.

On April 23, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described the current humanitarian situation in Gaza as “the worst ever seen throughout the war”. Despite the severity of these pronouncements, they often appear to be treated as routine news, eliciting little concrete action or substantive discussion.

Israeli violations of international and humanitarian laws regarding its occupation of Palestine are well-established facts. A new dimension of exceptionalism is emerging, reflected in Israel’s ability to deliberately starve an entire population for an extended period, with some even defending this approach.

The Gaza population continues to endure immense suffering, having experienced the loss of approximately 10 percent of its overall numbers due to deaths, disappearances and injuries. They are confined to a small, largely destroyed area of about 365 square kilometers, facing deaths from treatable diseases and lacking access to essential services, and even clean water.

Despite these conditions, Israel continues to operate with impunity in what seems to be a brutal and protracted experiment, while much of the world observes with varying degrees of anger, helplessness, or total disregard.

The question of the international community’s role remains central. While enforcing international law is one aspect, exerting the necessary pressure to allow a population

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