Mandala Trust statement of solidarity with the children of Gaza: Stop the Genocide!

According to UNICEF,  more than 50,000 children have now been reportedly killed or injured in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.  And more than 93% of the children in Gaza – about 930,000 children – are at critical risk of famine.  Without urgent action to end the Israeli authorities’ siege and allow food and medicine into Gaza, one million children are at risk of starvation, disease and ultimately death.   

As UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, recently stated:

“These children – lives that should never be reduced to numbers – are now part of a long, harrowing list of unimaginable horrors: the grave violations against children, the blockade of aid, the starvation, the constant forced displacement, and the destruction of hospitals, water systems, schools, and homes. In essence, the destruction of life itself in the Gaza Strip.”

Mandala Trust has previously supported the Caritas Health Centre and Theatre for Everybody project - both very near Jabalia Camp in Northern Gaza. With the unfathomable destruction of this area brought about by Israel's brutal onslaught, and the media blackout being enforced, we can only assume that most, if not all of the children we have worked with in these projects have been displaced, and given the realities on the ground, that many have been injured if not killed.

While these horrors are livestreamed on a daily basis to an increasingly desensitised public, and an entire population is starved in plain sight, the worlds governments are simply standing by.  What will it take for the international community to act?  Decisive action is required now in order to force an end to this systematic and ruthless killing of children.

Starvation as a method of warfare is strictly prohibited under international law and is codified as a war crime. The denial of humanitarian assistance is also a violation of International Humanitarian Law.  Amnesty International has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Mandala Trust calls for an end to this genocide and for its perpetrators to be brought to justice, for the respect of international humanitarian law and human rights law, the protection of all civilians including children, and for the immediate provision of humanitarian aid.