It is with profound sorrow that we share the heartbreaking news of the killing of the brother of an Islamic Relief staff member in Gaza, Palestine.
He was killed in Khan Younis in the early hours of this morning while trying to obtain wheat flour for his family, one of countless desperate civilians who have been targeted and killed over the past several weeks while trying to obtain basic food for their families.
His death is a heartbreaking reflection of the severe food insecurity faced by nearly every household in Gaza as a result of an organized famine, a flagrant disregard for international law by Israeli authorities.
For over 600 days, Islamic Relief Canada has been calling on Canada and our allies to demand safe, unimpeded, permanent humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip. We have called on governments around the world to act immediately to protect vulnerable Palestinian civilians and humanitarian workers. We have sounded the alarm against the militarization of humanitarian aid and have condemned the use of food as a weapon of war. We have called on the Canadian government to reject the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which violates the core humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence.
This tragedy is a clear indictment of global inaction. Civilians are massacred while queuing for flour. Aid convoys are shelled. Hospitals are bombed. Children are starving. And yet, world leaders hesitate to take concrete actions to end the violence.
Islamic Relief Canada is renewing its calls on the Canadian government to act now for:
- An immediate and permanent ceasefire
- Unimpeded humanitarian access and the rejection of militarized aid regimes
- Protection of civilians and humanitarian workers
- An end to the blockade and starvation of the Gaza Strip
- Full accountability for war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law
To remain silent in the face of this horror allows it to continue and could be seen as a form of complicity. Canada must stand up against this violence and live up to our commitments under international law.