Editorial: India cannot be eyeless in Gaza
Over 700 civilians have been killed and more than 4,200 wounded in just the past six weeks while trying to access food and essential supplies at aid centres operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Since the latest phase of the Gaza crisis began in late May 2025, the killing of Palestinians at aid distribution points has escalated dramatically. Over 700 civilians have been killed and more than 4,200 wounded in just the past six weeks while trying to access food and essential supplies at aid centres operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). This hitherto-unknown group, funded and controlled by Israel and the United States, is the only agency contracted for aid distribution in Gaza after all UN relief organisations were shut out. It doles out a fraction of the food the two million people living in the enclave really need.
Civilians make up the overwhelming majority of those killed at GHF aid points, with a significant proportion being women and children. These killings are part of a pattern of violence: The distribution points are few, and there is overcrowding and chaos at the choke points. Armed contractors fire live ammunition, and the Israeli Defence Forces use artillery and drones on the desperate aid seekers.
The militarisation of aid delivery is just one facet of the genocide in Gaza. There is an economic dimension to it as well, which has been captured in chilling detail by the latest report on the Gaza crisis by the UN’s special rapporteur Francesca Albanese. It says Israel has seized control of all land, resources, trade, and movement in the enclave, making Palestinian economic self-sufficiency impossible. Since October 2023, Israel has systematically dismantled all economic infrastructure, destroying over 70% of the businesses, razing or poisoning much of the agricultural land, especially olive and orange plantations, and decimating the fishing industry through a naval blockade.
A major point Albanese makes is about international complicity. Governments in Western Europe and the US have long been brazen abettors of the Gaza pogroms through military funding, intelligence support and media cover. Significant funding goes to Jewish settlements from Western non-governmental interest groups. Big tech firms provide the surveillance, AI-driven targeting, and cybersecurity tools used in repressing Palestinians. Meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp systematically censor pro-Palestinian content and give algorithmic support to Israeli narratives. Google and YouTube demote or demonetise Palestinian channels covering the Gaza war and partner with the Israeli government on AI-supported war projects. Microsoft provides cloud services to the Israeli military.
Albanese argues in her report that this corporate complicity is legally liable because there is a ton of evidence admissible under international law to show that Israel’s intent is genocidal. She argues that economic annihilation and progressive starvation are being perpetrated in Gaza to ensure that the Palestinians there never recover.
Such is the crisis in Gaza that India cannot hide from it any longer on the pretext that self-interest is the only guiding principle of a foreign policy. It cannot reasonably seek the world’s support on terrorism, looking the other way on Gaza.
In his speech to the BRICS session on peace and security in Rio de Janeiro, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Condemning terrorism must be a matter of principle, and not just of convenience. If our response depends on where or against whom the attack occurred, it shall be a betrayal of humanity itself.” Spoken like a statesman, but the words would ring truer if Vishwaguru applied the sentiment to the unfolding tragedy in Gaza as well.