Deaths in Gaza
The Australian Government, and the parliament as a whole, has failed to loudly and clearly condemn the “indiscriminate retaliatory behaviour of the Israel Defence Force”.
It has also “failed to make any statement..about the deaths of 40,000 Palestinians”.
A recent study reported in The Lancet did not arrive at a precise figure for Gaza, but estimates “around 186,000 deaths were attributable to Israeli actions since October 2023″, and “most of these were not attributable to bombardment or execution”.
The Lancet authors based their figures on indirect deaths observed in other conflict zones: “In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from 3 to 15 times the number of direct deaths” – caused by lack of healthcare, water, food and shelter infrastructure.
The failure of the Australian Parliament, and parliaments elsewhere, to acknowledge the magnitude of destruction sends the chilling message and precedent that this is all acceptable under the dubious claim of “self-defence”.
Contributions to Pearls and Irritations
Your contribution will fund quality independent comment and analysis in Pearls and Irritations
Contribute
