Over 15,000 deaths have occurred in the Gaza Strip from Oct. 7 through Dec. 2 due to the continuing Israel and Palestine conflict, as reported by PBS.  

Within that report, thousands of Palestinian children were reported to have been murdered by Israeli forces in retaliation for the actions of Hamas, a militant group labeled as a terrorist organization by the United State’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Hamas, which governs Gaza, does not act on the will of the Palestinian people, yet Israel has still unleashed the full force of its powerful military against all Palestinian people in Gaza. 

This can only be described as a genocidal attack.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, genocide is defined as “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying the nation or group.”

Genocide expertly describes the horror the Palestinian people in Gaza are facing right now – and they have been affected by this violence for over a month at the hand’s of Israel’s savage military. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the conflict in Israel and Palestine dates back to 1945, when groups Jewish people migrated from Europe to Palestine, most of which is now Israel. 

In 1948, the State of Israel was created, which started the first — but not last — Arab-Israeli War. While the war ended the following year, it left 750,000 Palestinians displaced with no homes. The territory they fought over was divided into the State of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Throughout the years, more and more Israeli settlers came in and claimed land that originally belonged to Palestinians. 

And this is still happening today.

In 2021, a court ruled to evict the Palestinians from their homes to make space for modern-day Israel. This caused a riot, which ended with violence on both sides.

While it is important to recognize innocent civilians on both sides of the issue are harmed daily by this conflict, the injustices toward Palestine have gone too far.

I read news articles and watch broadcasts in horror as the Israeli government slaughters innocent civilians and destroys hospitals with inhabitants still inside, on top of Israeli forces bombing an entire Palestinian neighborhood as reported by the Associated Press.

I’ve seen videos of paramedics and ambulances being targeted, as supplies, water and food throughout Gaza have been cut off, which is another part of Israel’s retaliation against Hamas’ attack. And again, Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people.

I’ve cried as I’ve seen Palestinians mourning entire families — wiped out without a single thought from the Israeli government.

It appears Israel is hellbent on annihilating the civilians of Gaza to punish them for Hamas. It seems as if the leaders of Israel don’t want there to be even one safe haven in the Gaza Strip, especially if it’s a hospital to treat the injured. 

There are hundreds of political leaders around the world who have said Israel has a right to defend themselves against Hamas, including many in the United States, which has lended foreign aid to Israel. But there are thousands of Palestinian children, mothers and fathers who have no part in the Hamas war who are now lying beneath the rubble of Gaza. 

It has all gone too far.

Despite these horrors, thousands of people still turn a blind eye toward what is happening in Palestine. Some might even claim they don’t want to get involved in the “politics” of it all or don’t want to pick sides because “it’s too complicated.” 

But it’s not complicated. It’s not even political. 

This is an illegal military occupation — a continuation of a 75-year-history of violence and land theft. This is murder. This is ethnic cleansing. 

This is genocide. 

There are no sides for you to sit on with this. You’re either for humanity or against it.

Protest against this, use your voice and speak up about these unimaginable horrors.

Destiny Torres is an opinion writer. Contact them at [email protected].