Gaza war

An ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas began on 7 October 2023, with a coordinated surprise offensive on Israel. The attack began with a barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip against Israel. In parallel, some 2,500 Palestinian militants breached the w:Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking military bases and massacring civilians in neighboring Israeli communities. At least 1,400 Israelis were killed, including 260 people who were massacred at a music festival. Unarmed civilian hostages and captured Israeli soldiers were taken to the Gaza Strip, including women and children. Israel began conducting retaliatory strikes before formally declaring war on Hamas a day later.

This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle ~ Benjamin Netanyahu

We are losing everyone and everything ~ Muhammad Smiry

Save their tongues for last, so we can enjoy his screams, his ears so he can hear his own screams, and his eyes so he can see us smiling ~ Tzipi Navon

I just really, really want to live ~ Saeb al-Jarz

We are fighting against human animals ~ Yoav Gallant

This is my local hospital. Inside are my friends, my neighbors. This is my community. Today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. I have seen things I can never unsee ~ Adnan Elbursh

Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected ~ Greta Thunberg

It is an entire nation out there that is responsible ~ Isaac Herzog

Israeli attacks [are] devoid of the most basic human values ~ Recep Tayyip Erdogan

U.S. officials can be held responsible for their failure to prevent Israel’s unfolding genocide, as well as for their complicity, by encouraging it and materially supporting it ~ Katherine Gallagher

There is no law or doctrine that justifies the systemic killing of a population that lives in an open-air prison for more than a half a century ~ Hadi Hachem

We need a disproportionate response… If all the captives are not returned immediately, turn the strip into a slaughterhouse. If a hair falls from their head - execute security prisoners. Violate any norm, on the way to victory ~ David Mizrahy Verthaim

Arranged alphabetically by author or source:
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links

A

I don’t believe that children should be detained ~ AOC

• The hell in Gaza right now. GENOCIDE GENOCIDE GENOCIDE
  • Ramy Abdul, quoted in X post by Ramy Abdul

• The message the Arab world is hearing is loud and clear. Palestinians’ lives matter less than Israeli ones.
  • Abdullah II of Jordan, quoted in Small aid convoy reaches Gaza after Hamas releases two hostages
• I can’t stay here, eating and drinking while my children are dying. There is no electricity or water or anything. Let me die there between my children.
  • Ibrahim Abu Awad, quoted in For Gazan workers stranded in Israel, being apart from family is agony (16 October 2023)

• Palestinian-Americans watched our president hug a man who called our race the "children of darkness" and we're supposed to act normal about it? How is this okay?
  • Kat Abughazaleh, quoted in X post by Kat Abu , (20 October 2023)

• The corridors are full of injured people. The ER rooms are beyond full. We have zero capacity to treat all the injured people. The high number of displaced people are no longer sheltering in the courtyard of the hospital but are now inside the hospital, including in the corridors. There is a high chance of infectious diseases spreading between patients and those displaced.
  • Marwan Abusada, quoted in ‘Situation is beyond catastrophic,’ Al-Shifa Hospital doctor tells aid group

• Rest assured that Hamas leaders have taken care of themselves and are taking cover from strikes in the region.
  • Avichay Adraee [1], (14 October 2023)

• If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger.
  • Hossein Amirabdollahian, quoted in Iran warns Israel of regional escalation if 'aggressions do not stop'

• The @PalestineRCS report of evacuation threats to Al-Quds hospital in Gaza is deeply concerning. We reiterate - it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives. Under International Humanitarian Law, healthcare must always be protected.
  • Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted in X post by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

• As Israeli forces continue to intensify their cataclysmic assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks, including indiscriminate attacks, which caused mass civilian casualties and must be investigated as war crimes.
  • Amnesty International, quoted in Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza

• We were forced out of our homes. The situation is indescribable. What you see on TV screens is not even 5 percent of what we are living on the ground. People are killed, torn to pieces; others charred to death; others severely injured; many left homeless; many children killed and more orphaned. Our home inside Gaza was destroyed, we were forced to come to Rafah.
  • Anonymous child, quoted in ‘What you see on TV not even 5 percent of what we’re living on the ground’

• All of these casualties came to the hospital, they came as body parts, amputated without any signs of life. We have received many casualties today in this massacre. This is really a genocide.
  • Anonymous doctor at al-Ahli hospital, quoted in Israel-Hamas war live: Biden in Israel, anger over Gaza hospital attack

• Ursula von der Leyen and her closest advisers – thought that this would be an Ukraine moment, and so they need to condemn the terrorists and win the moral argument. But I think they’ve just been purely ignorant of the scale of oppression Palestinians have experienced, and the widespread understanding of the conflict as this being a violent reaction to occupation.
  • Anonymous European Union official, quoted in EU staffers criticise von der Leyen’s ‘uncontrolled’ support of Israel

• The value of human rights is really the path to peace here...That’s a central thing that we need to make sure that we value the safety and the human rights of Israelis and we value the safety and human rights of Palestinians in that process that is similar on equal footing... Just like here in the United States, I don’t believe that children should be detained. I think that starting on those basic principles of human rights, we can build a path to peace together... We really need to make sure that we are valuing a process where all parties are respected, and have a lot of equal opportunity to really make sure that we are negotiating in good faith.
  • AOC (response to the question "What actions do you think can be taken to support movements towards peace) AOC says human rights is central to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, by Jacob Kornbluh (April 5, 2021)

• it should not be hard to shut down hatred and antisemitism where we see it
  • AOC in AOC decries 'bigotry and callousness' of pro-Palestinian rally in New York (October 10, 2023)

• So if you both cast doubt on Palestinian numbers but support no investigations — not even foreign journalists entering Gaza — what you’re really saying is: The death count does not matter because we’re going to support this regardless. We’re going to find ways to justify it.
  • Yara Asi, quoted in ‘Appalling’: Why has Biden cast doubt on the Palestinian death count?

• You can’t kill off Hamas because Hamas is more of an ideology. It’s not only a military force... It’s theatre. I would say the primary audience is domestic, here in the United States. We know obviously that President Biden faces reelection next year and that his opponent may be Donald Trump. So what Biden is attempting to do is to show that Israel has no better friend than Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
  • William J. Astore, quoted in Biden’s Israel trip displays ‘performative’ approach to Gaza war: analysts

B

• We got a call three times. They were threatening this time there’s no mercy and that’s why we had to evacuate. We have as much room to sleep as prisoners in solitary confinement. I wanted to stay and I came out crying, actually. I didn’t want to leave my house. But I also felt like this is not a choice I’m going to make on my own because I have three kids to survive with. I’m talking to you from a market that was bombed twice. I can see the destruction with my own eyes right now. But I have no choice, my kids have nothing to wear. The driver told us specifically that there is a limit for the packages we can carry.
  • Eman Basher, quoted in ‘Didn’t want to leave my house’: Palestinian mom on leaving Gaza City

• The children in Gaza brought it upon themselves.
  • Meirav Ben-Ari, quoted in Israel-Palestine: More than 1,000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza air strikes, NGO reveals

• Any visit that did not include a public call for a ceasefire essentially amounts to an endorsement of the continuing Israeli attacks on Gaza... I think US policy is to support at the moment whatever Israel is trying to accomplish, however realistic or unrealistic that may be.
  • Phyllis Bennis, quoted in Biden’s Israel trip displays ‘performative’ approach to Gaza war: analysts

• A lesson we ignore at our peril is that oppression undermines not only the rights, dignity, and lives of the oppressed but eventually the security of the oppressors as well. The apartheid system that’s been suffocating Palestinians for so long is now also undermining the safety of Israeli civilians.
  • Phyllis Bennis, We Need an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Counterpunch, (20 October 2023)

• Since 2007, Gazans have lived under siege, prohibited from leaving their open-air prison by a high-security militarized wall and platoons of Israeli soldiers. For the last 16 years, starting long before the latest escalation, access to most goods was banned. Gazans couldn’t even get construction materials to repair the homes, hospitals, water treatment facilities, and places or worship that Israel bombed repeatedly — in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021. Israel often denied emergency medical permits to leave the Strip, leaving many Gazans to die without care. Electricity was already limited. A 72-year-old woman in Gaza told a reporter last January, “It is hard to imagine, but we used to experience 24 hours of electricity each day in Gaza; now we are lucky if we get six.” Now there is none. Water was already unavailable except through expensive purchases from Israeli water companies. And food has long been scarce — by the age of two, 20 percent of Gaza’s children are already stunted. On October 9, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for a “total siege” of Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed,” he said. For Gaza’s already impoverished and malnourished population, that’s not just collective punishment — it’s genocide ... If we’re serious about preventing violence, we need to change the conditions from which this brutality sprang. Sending more bombs, warplanes, guns and bullets won’t solve the problem.
  • Phyllis Bennis, We Need an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Counterpunch, (20 October 2023)

• You are a Jewish state, but you are also a Democracy, and like the United States, you do not live by the rules of terror.
  • Joe Biden, quoted in Biden urges "clarity about the objectives" as Israel plans for Gaza invasion

• I grieve with the families of those killed or wounded in the tragedy at the hospital in Gaza. We’re working with our partners in the region to get life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza as quickly as we can.
  • Joe Biden, quoted in X post by POTUS

• Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And-- so I think Israel has to respond. They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. They're hiding behind the civilians. They put their of—their—their—their headquarters where civilians are and buildings and the like. But to the extent they can separate out and avoi—I'm conf-- the Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians.
  • Biden [2]

• My warning to the Ayatollah was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond. And he should be prepared.
  • Biden [3]

• Biden and Blinken are still giving cover to Israel, diplomatic and otherwise – and the promises of peace – in order for Israel to continue with this genocide.
  • Marwan Bishara, quoted in Biden ‘covering up for Israel as it is finishing its genocide’ in Gaza: AJ analyst

• We should all be standing up and objecting and calling for an end to genocide. Until Palestine is free… we will continue to see violence. We will continue to see this structural violence producing this kind of resistance.
  • Judith Butler, quoted in Palestinian Lives Matter Too: Jewish Scholar Judith Butler Condemns Israel’s “Genocide” in Gaza

C

• We currently have people being operated on without having morphine. It just happened to two kids. We have a lot of kids that are unfortunately among the wounded, and I was discussing with one of our surgeons, who received a 10-year-old yesterday, burnt on 60% of the body surface, and he didn’t end up having painkillers. There is no justification at all to block these essential medicines to reach the population.
  • Leo Cans, quoted in Israel ramps up Gaza strikes as spiraling humanitarian crisis dwarfs trickle of aid

• Right now, in Gaza, the situation is horrific and catastrophic. Those hospitals and clinics that have not been evacuated are overwhelmed and are barely functioning. No electricity, no medical supplies. Surgeons in Al-Shifa hospital are now operating without painkillers.
  • Christos Christou, stated in X Post by Christos Christou

• At the end of this war, not only will Hamas no longer be in Gaza, the territory of Gaza will also decrease.
  • Eli Cohen, quoted in Foreign minister: At war’s end, not only will Hamas be gone, but Gaza’s territory will shrink

• War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.
  • Paddy Cosgrave, quoted in Web Summit CEO resigns over Israel ‘war crimes’ post

D

• You are against occupation in Ukraine — can you deny that the Palestinians are under occupation? Nobody is asking you to go and declare war on the Israelis because they are occupying the Palestinians; people are asking you to be rational, wise and convince your allies — push them to their senses.
  • Khalid Al-Dakhil, quoted in U.S. Response to Israel-Hamas War Draws Fury in Middle East

• After a week of horror in Gaza and the EU diving in headfirst, draping our Parliament in the Israeli flag, aiding and abetting in war crimes, including the bombing of a hospital and still we find it impossible to say that Palestinian lives matter. We’re still privileging one category of victims over another. We talk about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but why is there a humanitarian crisis? Is it a natural disaster? Who cut off the water, fuel and electricity? Are we not sure? Who is bombing Palestinian civilians? Do we not know? Do you think we couldn’t mention it? There is a crime unfolding in Gaza now, such as we have not seen since the 1940s, and we are in it up to our necks. We are watching Israel murder Palestinian civilians and preparing to drive millions of them into the Sinai Desert to annex and colonise their land. it is another Nakba. it is a crime against humanity. It is not a humanitarian crisis. The EU will never live down this shame. Long live Palestine! Long live Gaza!
  • Clare Daly, quoted in Verbatim report of proceedings

• Palestine is a moral litmus test for the world.
  • Angela Davis, quoted in Angela Davis: ‘Palestine is a moral litmus test for the world’

• Erasing all of Gaza from the face of the earth. That the Gazan monsters will fly to the southern fence and try to enter Egyptian territory. or they will die. And their death is evil. Gaza should be erased. And fire and smoke on the heads of the Nazis in Judea and Samaria. Haron is also a Jew who will shake the earth of the world. A vengeful and cruel IDF is needed here. Anything less is immoral. Just unethical.
  • Galit Distel-Atbaryan, stated in X post by Galit Distel-Atbaryan

E

• There are hundreds of thousands of people fleeing for their life—[that is] not something that should be called an evacuation. It is a forcible transfer of people from all of northern Gaza, which according to the Geneva convention is a war crime.
  • Jan Egeland, quoted in Gazans stream south to seek shelter from Israeli bombardment

• Creating a severe humanitarian crisis is a necessary means to achieve the goal. Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist.
  • Giora Eiland, quoted in Why Israel’s ban on fuel to Gaza isn’t about stopping Hamas

• The Security Council has not been able to implement its own resolutions because the five permanent members – instead of being a policeman – unfortunately what we’ve seen over the years, they’ve sort of turned into gangsters. This is the reality.
  • Aicha Elbasri, quoted in Israel-Hamas war live: Israel says will not block Gaza aid from Egypt

• What we are seeing today is one of the darkest hours of our times. We’re watching genocide live – the crime of crimes. Israel doesn’t have to justify – Israel is above the law. Israel is above the moral compass. It’s been permitted to carry out the worst crimes against humanity without any sense of accountability to anyone. As long as Washington is on its side, as long as the Europeans are giving it the license to kill, as long as Arabs also aren’t taking any steps that could make Israel think again about its plan – I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything else.
  • Aicha Elbasri, quoted in ‘We’re watching genocide live,’ former UN officials says

• This is my local hospital. Inside are my friends, my neighbors. This is my community. Today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. I have seen things I can never unsee.
  • Adnan Elbursh, quoted in It’s becoming impossible to report from Gaza

• Depriving children of access to food and essential services puts their lives at risk, as do attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure.
  • James Elder, quoted in The 'horrendous toll' on children caught in the Israel-Gaza conflict

• I am not the same person my mind goes numb as I try to process some of the death and destruction and loss around, being still alive seems to be the hardest problem
  • Mustafa Elmasri, quoted in X post by Mustafa Elmasri

• I learned invaluable lessons from Cambodians on surviving a genocide, sharing mere grains of rice with family. From the women in Darfur, I grasped the essence of nurturing children, knowing the bitter truth that not all might survive. The people of Gaza teach me new lessons
  • Mustafa Elmasri, quoted in X post by Mustafa Elmasri

• Israel is not at war with human beings, we are at war with monsters.
  • Gilad Erdan, quoted in Israeli UN Ambassador shows video of Thai worker attack to oppose UNGA ignoring Hamas

• Israeli attacks [are] devoid of the most basic human values.
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted in Biden embraces Israel, raises hope for Gaza aid

• We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal, we are making preparations for this. The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West. The West owes you, but Turkey does not owe you.
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted in Main culprit behind Gaza massacre is the West: Erdogan

• Those shedding crocodile tears for civilians killed in the Ukraine-Russia war are silently watching the deaths of thousands of innocent children in Gaza.
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted in Türkiye to introduce Israel to world as war criminal: Turkish President Erdogan

• If Israel does not stop immediately, the whole Gaza Strip and its inhabitants will be erased from the planet.
  • European Union staffers, quoted in EU staffers criticise von der Leyen’s ‘uncontrolled’ support of Israel

F

• We are at a turning point in history. Either we reach a lasting peace or a world war will break out. We call on all parties, regional and international stakeholders, to listen to the voice of reason. And those who are encouraging Israel to continue its crimes are also liable. If we don’t act fast, we will have darker days to come.
  • Hakan Fidan, quoted in ‘Lasting peace or world war,’ warns Turkey FM

• We totally recognize the right of Israel to defend itself. And on the other hand, protecting civilians, granting humanitarian access, calling for the full respect of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions – there is absolutely no contradiction. This is basically what this resolution was doing.
  • Sérgio França Danese, quoted in US vetoes Security Council call for ‘humanitarian pause’ in Israel-Hamas war

G

• Israel’s mass bombings and denial of food, water, and electricity are calculated to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza. U.S. officials can be held responsible for their failure to prevent Israel’s unfolding genocide, as well as for their complicity, by encouraging it and materially supporting it.
  • Katherine Gallagher, quoted in Going all-in for Israel may make Biden complicity in genocide

• We are fighting against human animals.
  • Yoav Gallant, quoted in Israeli defence minister orders ‘complete siege’ on Gaza

• The Americans insisted and we are not in a place where we can refuse them. We rely on them for planes and military equipment. What are we supposed to do? Tell them no?
  • Yoav Gallant, quoted in Gallant: We can’t say ‘no’ to the US on humanitarian aid given how much they do for us

• There are air raids everyday. We can’t sleep or eat. We have no fuel, no electricity. We can’t even go to the bathrooms. They are treating us like we are animals. And the world is silent. The US is giving Israel legitimacy to do whatever they want to Palestinians. This is collective punishment. Everything is being targeted.
  • Yousri al-Ghoul, quoted in ‘They’re treating us like animals. And the world is silent’: Gaza writer

• Still out of internet, water, food, safety, home, landlines and certainty. Mobile networks are weak. So many families are displaced, humanitarian situation is beyond dire, thousands killed & injured, hundreds of thousands are traumatized.
  • Omar Ghraieb, quoted in X post by Omar Ghraieb

• Toughest, bloodiest, longest and darkest night in #Gaza. Heavy bombings everywhere, too many killed. I don't know why we post or tweet when the world clearly doesn't care. It's been 17 days & counting.
  • Omar Ghraieb, quoted in X post by Omar Ghraieb

• I know the Al-Quds Hospital from the time it was built. There is a new medical block in al Shifa Hospital under international surveillance. During all these years having worked in these hospitals, I have never ever seen any sign of any military or political command center. And if the Israelis … cannot provide any evidence or any proof, how can we look at this as anything else but lies, intimidating and scaring people, and excuses to bomb the hospitals.
  • Mads Gilbert, quoted in No evidence Gaza hospitals being used a ‘military command centre’: Norwegian doctor

• I am very puzzled by the constant concern which the world is showing for the Palestinian people and is actually showing for these horrible inhuman animals who have done the worst atrocities that this century has seen.
  • Dan Gillerman, quoted in Former Israeli ambassador to UN calls Palestinians ‘horrible, inhuman animals’

• Let them erase Gaza and not leave not even one person alive.
  • Eyal Golan, quoted in X post by Quds News Network

• Do whatever the hell you have to do to defend yourself. Level the place.
  • Lindsey Graham, quoted in Frustration, concern rise in Arab American communities amid Gaza war

• We have a chance to reset the world here, defeat Putin in the Ukraine, dismantle Hamas now, and tell the Iranians, 'If you escalate any more attacks coming from Iran, we are coming after you.' Anything short of that is going to lead to an invasion of Taiwan by China. We live in very dangerous times. The Biden administration’s approach to Iran is about as successful as their border policy. We are exposed to a major terrorist attack by an open border, we're exposed to escalation if we don’t tell the Iranians [to] quickly stand down
  • Lindsey Graham [4]

• It is critical that aid reaches people in need wherever they are across Gaza, and at the right scale. The people of Gaza have endured decades of suffering. The international community cannot continue to fail them.
  • Martin Griffiths, quoted in Small aid convoy reaches Gaza after Hamas releases two hostages

• Gaza is being transformed as we speak from what a former British Prime Minister once called the world’s largest open-air prison into the world’s largest open-air death camp.
  • Chris Gunness, quoted in Former UNRWA official says Gaza turning into ‘world’s largest open-air death camp’

• In this dramatic moment, as we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, it is my duty as Secretary-General of the United Nations to make two strong humanitarian appeals.Hamas is to immediately release the hostages without conditions. And Israel should grant rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza.
  • Antonio Guterres, quoted in Middle East on ‘verge of the abyss’ UN warns, as Israel-Hamas conflict deepens Gaza crisis

• The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements, plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.
  • Antonio Guterres, quoted in More from the UN’s Guterres

• I was encouraged by what seemed to be a growing consensus for the need of at least a humanitarian pause in the Middle East. Regrettably, instead I was surprised by an unprecedented escalation of bombardments, undermining humanitarian objectives. This situation must be reversed.
  • Antonio Guterres, quoted in Israeli offensive ‘advancing’ in Gaza after overnight fighting

H

• There is no law or doctrine that justifies the systemic killing of a population that lives in an open-air prison for more than a half a century.
  • Hadi Hachem, quoted in Lebanon wants to ‘disassociate’ from ‘bloody conflict’: Ambassador

• What we’re really in, if you watch the news for five minutes, is genuine, pure 9/11 Islamophobia. Twenty-three years later, we’re in exactly the same language. The Americans have learned nothing.
  • Hafsa Halawa, quoted in U.S. Response to Israel-Hamas War Draws Fury in Middle East

• Israel’s distorted, settler colonial visage is our own. We pretend otherwise. We ascribe to ourselves virtues and civilizing qualities that are, as in Israel, flimsy justifications for stripping an occupied and besieged people of their rights, seizing their land and using prolonged imprisonment, torture, humiliation, enforced poverty and murder to keep them subjugated.
  • Chris Hedges, "Exterminate All the Brutes." Scheerpost (29 October 2023).

• It is an entire nation out there that is responsible.
  • Isaac Herzog, quoted in 'No Innocent Civilians in Gaza', Israel President Says as Northern Gaza Struggles to Flee Israeli Bombs

• We call for holding Israel accountable for the massacres and crimes it continues to commit against the defenseless Palestinian people.
  • Daifallah Hmud, quoted in Jordan calls for holding Israel accountable for ‘massacres’

• Islamic Republic is reasoned enough not to directly fight a war in this current crisis.
  • Nabi Hashem Nabi Hashem

I

• I'm not crying for my parents - I am crying for those who will lose their lives in this war. We must stop the war.
  • Moaz Inon, quoted in Israeli Who Lost Parents To Hamas Massacre Tells BBC: 'We Must Stop The War'

• Those attacks cannot in turn justify the limitless destruction of Gaza. The parties must not neglect their legal obligations regarding the methods and means used to wage war. The instructions issued by the Israeli authorities for the population of Gaza City to immediately leave their homes, coupled with the complete siege explicitly denying them food, water, and electricity, are not compatible with international humanitarian law.
  • International Committee of the Red Cross, quoted in Rare ICRC Public Statement Calls for “Pause” in Gaza Fighting

• @GretaThunberg, Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets which have BUTCHERED innocent Israelis .
  • Israel, post by X post by the Government of Israel

• Americans would easy sacrifice Israel if they feel threatened.
  • IRGC general [5]

J

• It’s very tough seeing children and babies dying every day. It’s heartbreaking. I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians. I can’t be happy with this win.
  • Ons Jabeur, quoted in ‘It’s heartbreaking’: Ons Jabeur in tears over plight of Palestinians

• I just really, really want to live.
  • Saeb al-Jarz, quoted in Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice — stay home under airstrikes, or flee under airstrikes?

• I’ve seen some of those [calls for a ceasefire] this weekend, and we’re going to continue to be very clear. We believe they are wrong, we believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful.
  • Karine Jean-Pierre, quoted in Frustration, concern rise in Arab American communities amid Gaza war

• The horrors and atrocities starting October 7th are indescribable. Thousands of civilians, Israelis and Palestinians, are paying the price of apartheid. We are calling you to intervene immediately to stop the war crimes that are still happening.
  • Jewish Voice for Peace, stated in Israelis call for an immediate end to the attack on Gaza

• Gaza has been an open-air prison for nearly two decades and is fast becoming a mass grave. 40 percent of those killed are innocent children. Whole families are being murdered.
  • Angelina Jolie, quoted in Angelina Jolie slams Israel, calls world leaders ‘complicit in these crimes’

K

• The beds are not enough, the dead and wounded are on the floor. We can’t guarantee treatment for anybody. Without fuel, our operations will completely stop. The intensive care patients, the kidney patients will all lose their lives. The world is signing the death warrant of these people.
  • Ahmad al-Kahlout, quoted in ‘The world is signing the death warrant’ of wounded Gaza people

• Right now, one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 48. Nakba in Gaza and Nakba to anyone who dares to join! their Nakba, because like then in 1948, the alternative is clear.
  • Ariel Kallner, quoted in Israel MK calls for a second Nakba in Gaza

• They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world
  • Israel Katz, quoted in What have Israeli officials said about Palestinians in Gaza?

• How the hell did the entire world just watch and let Israel turn off the water?
  • Azmi Keshawi, quoted in Gaza under Israeli siege: Bread lines, yellow water and nonstop explosions

• This is war. It is combat. It is bloody, ugly and it's going to be messy and innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward.
  • John Kirby, quoted in 'Innocent Civilians Are Going To Be Hurt' In Israel-Hamas War: W.House

L

• If Gaza is destroyed and two million inhabitants are expelled, as some politicians in Israel and abroad propose, this will create a catastrophe for many decades, if not centuries.
  • Sergei Lavrov, quoted in Russia says Israeli bombardment of Gaza is against international law

• In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity. If we look at the issue of water — we all know water is life — Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life.
  • Philippe Lazzarini, quoted in ‘Why has the world abandoned us?’ Palestinians in Gaza plead for humanitarian relief

• To equal Gaza with Hamas is very dangerous and misleading. It is an equation aimed at dehumanising people, aimed at making the unjustifiable justifiable. Keeping our humanity means showing that the people in Gaza deserve our empathy and compassion. No one can claim, ‘I did not know’ as images, footage and voices of unspeakable suffering continue to come out by the hour from Gaza. We cannot any more turn a blind eye to this human tragedy. Millions of people especially in Gaza are asking, why the world does not have the will to act and put an end to this hell on Earth? They deserve an answer. Delaying it will deepen the polarisation in this region and increase the risk of spillover.
  • Philippe Lazzarini, quoted in Equating Gaza with Hamas ‘very dangerous and misleading’

• Many of us saw in these trucks a glimmer of hope. This is, however, becoming a distraction. These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference for two million people in the streets We should avoid conveying the message that a few trucks a day means the siege is lifted for humanitarian aid; this is not true. The current system in place is geared to fail. What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow and to succeed we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this reaches those in need. This should not be too much to ask for.
  • Philippe Lazzarini, quoted in Trucks entering Gaza through Rafah ‘nothing more than crumbs’: UNRWA chief

• This is a long time coming. Myself and my predecessors have pointed out the increasingly entrenched nature of the occupation – the growth of the settlements, the expanding land appropriation, the increased violence. Those dark moments are preludes to what we’re seeing now. You cannot continually put a cork on a volcano and expect it to hold back the explosion. The killing and kidnapping of Israelis civilians – those are clearly war crimes. But war crimes committed by one side do not allow war crimes committed by the other. There is a narrative about Israel that it is a law-abiding democracy that shares values with the West – and that sometimes is a blind spot when it comes to the Palestinians. It doesn’t take into account the many violations of international law – the settlements, the annexations, the penning in of people. There is a longstanding sense that Israel is the West’s compensation for what it did and what it allowed with respect to European Jewry during the second world war: the promise that Jews deserve their own homeland where they can be safe and secure. What never is factored in is the process where a Jewish state was meant to replace an Arab state – and the suffering that occurred from that.
  • Michael Lynk, quoted in ‘A long time coming’: Explosion of violence long predicted – analyst

M

• The ongoing massacres being deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian civilian population under illegal occupation must be stopped. It is our collective human duty to stop them.
  • Riyad al-Maliki, quoted in More from Riyad al-Maliki at the UN Security Council

• I appeal to all of you to vote to stop the killing. Vote for humanitarian aid to reach those whose very survival depends on it. Vote to stop this madness.
  • Riyad Mansour, quoted in Palestinian ambassador urges UN to ‘stop the killing’ as Israel pounds Gaza

• I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians. I don’t think we would so lightly throw around the term innocent Nazi civilians.
  • Brian Mast, quoted in US congressman suggests there are no ‘innocent Palestinian civilians’

• I covered the Rwandan genocide as a reporter. The language spilling out of Israel after the butchery of the Hamas attacks is eerily familiar.
  • Chris McGreal, quoted in The language being used to describe Palestinians is genocidal

• What happened is beyond description. They killed families, children and women with air strikes, artillery shelling and from boats. They committed horrible massacres and cut off communications so no one would hear us.
  • Abu Mohamed, quoted in Israeli offensive ‘advancing’ in Gaza after overnight fighting

• We must mobilize and stop further crimes of Israel.
  • Mohammad Mokhber

• The current wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people, rooted in an ethno-nationalist settler colonial ideology, in continuation of decades of their systematic persecution and purging, based entirely upon their status as Arabs … leaves no room for doubt or debate … Across the land, Apartheid rules.
  • Craig Mokhiber, quoted in Top UN official resigns over ‘genocide’ of Palestinian civilians

• I feel quite confident as a human rights lawyer in saying that what I see unfolding in Gaza and beyond is genocide.
  • Craig Mokhiber, quoted in ‘What I see unfolding in Gaza and beyond is genocide’

• When [Western outlets] focus on these claims of 40 beheaded babies and women being gang-raped, then what they are effectively doing is justifying the brutality of Israel’s counterattack. How else do you sell the idea of self-defence when [Israel] is bombing what is basically a concentration camp?
  • Lina Mounzer, quoted in Western coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza – bias or unprofessionalism?

• 1800 Palestinian kids in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli Military. On an American scale, that is 270,000 children.
  • Yousef Munayyer, quoted in X post by Yousef Munayyer

• Can you beat hatred without a malignant heart?
  • Elon Musk [6]

• Khamenei's official position is clearly the obliteration of Israel, and not just support for the Palestinians.
  • Elon Musk[7]

• Israel if it stays silent it would most definitely die out, and it cannot win if tries to fight resistance forces.
  • Ayatollah Mahdavi

• Islamic ummah will kill every last zionist if Israel invades Gaza.
  • Ayatollah Musavi

N

• This family and, I’m sure, the other hundreds of American citizens in Rafah right now feel completely abandoned by their government. We are barreling toward a grave national tragedy, and the White House and the State Department do not seem to care.
  • Sammy Nabulsi, quoted in Americans stuck in Gaza at wits’ end after another false report they could leave

• If we die, know that we are content and steadfast, and convey on our behalf that we are people of truth.
  • Hiba Kamal Abu Nada, quoted in X post by Abdalhadi Alijla

• Save their tongues for last, so we can enjoy his screams, his ears so he can hear his own screams, and his eyes so he can see us smiling.
  • Tzipi Navon, quoted in Israel-Palestine war: Sara Netanyahu's adviser calls for torture of Gaza residents involved in killing Israelis

• This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted in X post by the Prime Minister of Israel

• We are at war, not in an operation or in rounds, but at war.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu [8]

• We will take mighty vengeance for this wicked day.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted in Israel vows 'mighty vengeance' after surprise attack

• This is Israel's second War of Independence, a war for our very survival that will be long and tough, and we shall prevail.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted in X post by i24 News

• Now is the time to take revenge... We are in a tough war, but we will win a complete victory over the low-lifes who harmed us - and settle accounts with them.
  • Sara Netanyahu, quoted in Sara Netanayhu: Now is the time for revenge against Hamas

O

• Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable. Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered. I do not know how such an act can be defended. The United States has historically denounced this practice.
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, quoted in Musk says Starlink will support connectivity to aid organizations in Gaza

• Israel claims Jews as its national asset, and it weaponises us, as Jews – both as bodies in the demographic battle vis-a-vis non-Jews and particularly Palestinians, and ideologically as born representatives of the Jewish state – [and] seeks to do that to Jews worldwide. That claim, in turn, makes [us] the human shields of the state, as it assaults Palestinians under its settler-colonialist agenda, be it through ongoing ethnic cleansing, through siege or through seasonal massacres.
  • Jonathan Ofir, quoted in ‘Not in my name’: The European Jews condemning Israel’s war on Gaza

• How do you look at one atrocity and say, 'This is wrong,' but you watch as bodies pile up as neighborhoods are leveled? Israel has dropped more bombs in the last 10 days than we dropped in a whole year in Afghanistan. Where is your humanity? Where is your outrage? Where is your care for people?
  • Ilhan Omar, quoted in Progressives call for ceasefire: 'Vengeance is not a foreign policy doctrine'

P

• As scholars who have devoted our professional lives to studying Palestine/Israel and to enlightening both students and the general public about the region, we are deeply troubled by the coverage that we are witnessing in most U.S. print and broadcast media... It is quite apparent to us that the Israeli government is attempting to condition Western public opinion to accept an onslaught against the Gaza Strip.
  • Palestine/Israel Scholars Open Letter to US Media

• I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.
  • Josh Paul, quoted in 'I Couldn't Shift Anything': Senior State Department Official Resigns Over Biden's Gaza Policy

• I think that many people will agree with me that this is a vivid example of the failure of United States policy in the Middle East.
  • Vladimir Putin [9]

R

• The Zionist regime lacks the knowledge of popular struggles and has entered a vast quagmire, possibly taking action to expand the war in the region to conceal it.
  • Mohsen Rezaei [10]
• Let the supporters of the [Israeli] regime know that those who cannot reach the Zionist entity [in battle] may be able to reach the US forces who are managing this war.
  • [11] General Ramezan
• We are deeply concerned about the atrocities that are unfolding in the Middle East and we have passed our condolences to the people of Israel as we are passing our condolences to the people of Palestine. We have a full understanding of how the people of Palestine have been under occupation for almost 75 years and have been waging a struggle against an oppressive government that has in recent times been dubbed an apartheid State.
  • Cyril Ramaphosa, quoted in South Africa supports Palestinians against Israel’s apartheid

• The people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world's reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world. When October 7 happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned the attack. But what we're seeing in the last couple of weeks, we're seeing silence in the world.
  • Queen Rania of Jordan, quoted in Jordan queen rues West's 'glaring double standard' on Gaza

S

• Israelis can no longer trust their security apparatus, the army and even the United States, which is always late. They were lucky this time, but it may not be the case next time,..They put many tanks behind the borders of Gaza, but they do not take a step forward, because the war is not fought with weapons, and it needs men of faith and confident hearts, not anxious hearts and troubled hearts .There is no way for the infidels to overcome the Muslims. They are doomed to failure.
  • General Salami [12]
• There is no reason in existence of Zionist race.
  • General Salami
• These animals can no longer live.
  • Ezra Sachin, quoted in “These animals can no longer live” says Israel’s oldest reservist

• The catastrophe will have painful consequences in coming periods. The decision to end the war is not with us, it's with Israel and we must exert all efforts to end it.
  • Ayman Safadi, quoted in Jordan's foreign minister says 'we fear the worst' in Gaza war

• The situation is really dangerous. Transferring these children from this place means handing them a death sentence. They will die and this equipment only operates with electricity and oxygen.
  • Hussam Abu Safiya, quoted in Entire Families Wiped Out As Israel Continues Heaviest-Ever Airstrikes On Gaza

• We do not have enough clean water, our water is contaminated and 40 paediatric patients presented with gastroenteritis infections due to the contaminated water. The situation is really very bad. It is unsafe. The 40 babies were complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and abdominal pain and this was related to water contamination.
  • Hussam Abu Safiya, quoted in Doctors warn of 'catastrophic' conditions in Gaza hospitals as medical supplies dwindle

• This is phase one of collapse of Israel suffered not only defeat but it was humiliation too.
  • Hossein Salami [13]

• The kingdom considers targeting civilians in Gaza a heinous crime and a brutal attack, stressing the necessity of working to provide protection for them.
  • Mohammad bin Salman, quoted in Saudi leader tells British PM attacks on Gaza 'heinous'

• The assault on Gaza can also be understood in other terms: as a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes. I say this as a scholar of genocide.
  • Raz Segal, quoted in A Textbook Case of Genocide

• Whoever identifies with Greta in any way in the future, in my view, is a terror supporter.
  • Arye Sharuz Shalicar, quoted in Israeli official slams Greta Thunberg after she backs Palestinians in Gaza

• Israel says the homes bombed are Hamas houses. In the same breath Israel claims to warn homeowners of imminent bombing. Question: why warn homeowners if they are Hamas, isnt the whole point of your butchery to eradicate Hamas? Truth is that Israel’s war is on every soul in gaza.
  • Jason Shawa, quoted in X post by جاسم الشو

• Even in Vietnam, there was a whole elaborate explanation that people gave, and they didn’t quite admit that they just were slaughtering the innocent.
  • Wallace Shawn, quoted in Wallace Shawn Calls for End of “Massacring” in Israel-Gaza Conflict at D.C. Rally: “I Don’t Really Believe in Revenge”

• Yes, it is true what happened over the past nine days was very difficult and too much, and we unequivocally condemn it. But we need to understand that this is the result of accumulated fury and hatred over four decades, where the Palestinians had no hope to find a solution.
  • Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, quoted in U.S. Response to Israel-Hamas War Draws Fury in Middle East

• We are losing everyone and everything.
  • Muhammad Smiry, quoted in X post by Muhammad Smiry

• It gets more bloody at night
  • Muhammad Smiry, quoted in X post by Muhammad Smiry

T

• The war is not just with Hamas, the war [is] with all the civilians.
  • Betzalel Taljah, quoted in Israeli soldier pushes war crimes on CNN

• They were eating when the massacre happened. We collected bodies of children and many body parts. It’s a sight that will remain in my mind even if I live a thousand years.
  • Samer Tarzi, quoted in ‘A sight that will remain . . . if I live a thousand years’: Palestinians bear witness to hospital blast

• We are saying enough is enough. It is untenable for Israel to be given an unconditional green light and free licence to kill, nor it is tenable to continue ignoring the reality of occupation, siege and settlement.
  • Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, quoted in ‘Double standards’: Israel shouldn’t have ‘free licence to kill’: Qatar

• Hamas' own actions have brought this on.
  • Linda Thomas-Greenfield, quoted in US vetoes UN Security Council action on Israel, Gaza

• Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.
  • Greta Thunberg, quoted in X post by Greta Thunbger

• Joe Biden's total ineptitude, weakness, and incompetence has led to this horrible attack on on Israel; and it will only get worse,It's only going to get worse. This guy cannot put two sentences together. He has no idea what's happening.
  • Donald Trump [14]

• We aren't bringing in anyone from Gaza.
  • Donald Trump, quoted in Trump Vows to Reject Gazan Refugees After Israel Attack

U

• UN humanitarians expressed deep concern on Friday for all civilians in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s order for the entire population there to leave the north, amid ongoing airstrikes and a deepening humanitarian crisis. The development follows an announcement by UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, just before midnight Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, that UN representatives in Gaza had been “informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military” that everyone living north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. Some 1.1 million people would be expected to leave northern Gaza, Mr. Dujarric said, adding that the same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities, including schools, health centres and clinics. The UN considers it “impossible” for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences and appeals for the order to be rescinded, Mr. Dujarric said. Echoing that message, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) joined the call for Israel to rescind the relocation order, which amounted to a “death sentence” for many, said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.
  • Gaza: Nowhere to go, as humanitarian situation reaches ‘lethal low’, United Nations News (13 October 2023)

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Press Release, quoted in Gaza: UN experts decry bombing of hospitals and schools as crimes against humanity, call for prevention of genocide, (19 October 2023)

• UN experts today expressed outrage against the deadly strike at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which killed more than 470 civilians on Tuesday and trapped hundreds under the rubble. The strike reportedly followed two warnings issued by Israel that an attack on the hospital was imminent if people inside were not evacuated.
• “The strike against Al Ahli Arab Hospital is an atrocity. We are equally outraged by the deadly strike on the same day on an UNRWA school located in Al Maghazi refugee camp that sheltered some 4000 displaced people, as well as two densely populated refugee camps,” the experts said.
• There is an ongoing campaign by Israel resulting in crimes against humanity in Gaza. Considering statements made by Israeli political leaders and their allies, accompanied by military action in Gaza and escalation of arrests and killing in the West Bank, there is also a risk of genocide against the Palestine people
• An estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, are in desperate need of prenatal and postnatal care. The number of internally displaced people across the Gaza Strip is estimated at around one million.
• The unlawful denial of humanitarian access and depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival are also a violation of international humanitarian law, the experts warned.
• "The complete siege of Gaza coupled with unfeasible evacuation orders and forcible population transfers, is a violation of international humanitarian and criminal law. It is also unspeakably cruel,” the experts said.

V

• We need a disproportionate response… If all the captives are not returned immediately, turn the strip into a slaughterhouse. If a hair falls from their head - execute security prisoners. Violate any norm, on the way to victory.
  • David Mizrahy Verthaim, quoted in The language being used to describe Palestinians is genocidal

• Americans statements are reminding of crusades. We are an unseparable part of resistance. We will continue to fight until enemies defeat.
  • Velayati [15]

W

• I fear that we are at the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if not of the Middle East as a whole.
  • Tor Wennesland, quoted in US vetoes UN Security Council action on Israel, Gaza

• Bomb the savages who did this back to the Stone Age. There are no grey areas. Kill them all. Every Hamas savage and every Hamas supporter on earth. Bury them with the entrails of pigs.
  • James Woods, quoted in X post by Middle East Monitor

• There are verified reports of deaths of health care workers and destruction of health facilities, which denies civilians the basic human right of life-saving health care and is prohibited under International Humanitarian Law.
  • World Health Organization, quoted in WHO condemns Israel’s Gaza evacuation order as ‘death sentence’ for sick, injured

Y

• If we don’t treat Gaza as an enemy, we will never get out of the rounds and each time it is going to get worse to the point that we reached the acute situation of [October 7] morning. The state of Israel needs to understand and accept that there are no innocents in Gaza.
  • Eliyahu Yossian, quoted in ‘Threat is not Hamas but Gazans, and Arabs of Judea and Samaria’

• I urge the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and reiterate the call for a ceasefire.
  • Malala Yousafzai, quoted in ‘I’m horrified…': Nobel winner Malala Yousafzai donates $300k to Palestinians

Z

• There’s no time to lose to protect civilians. An immediate and comprehensive ceasefire must be a priority. Without a ceasefire, any humanitarian aid would be a drop in the bucket. The Security Council has no excuse to remain silent.
  • Zhang Jun, quoted in Security Council meets over Israel-Gaza: ‘Very real risk’ of conflict expanding warns top envoy

See also

• Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Gaza war on Wikipedia
• Media related to Gaza war on Wikimedia Commons