The second Nakba is not upon us; it is already happening right in front of our eyes.

Since the ceasefire collapse, Israel went all out in its genocidal war against the Palestinian people, with the worst forms of weaponizing aid and starvation at full display.

Based on conservative figures from Al Jazeera, death toll in Gaza rose by 25% since the ceasefire. Of the more than 62,000 total deaths to date, 16,000 were killed since January – when the agreement was enforced. The killings did not stop during the ceasefire, but they sharply spiked after the deal broke down in March, as the Israeli Defense Force carried out air raids and shootings targeting populated civilian infrastructures and refugee camps.

To say that Gaza is at “critical risk” of famine is denying the reality that famine is actually already taking place, considering Israel’s total control and blockade of all humanitarian aid since mid-March and the severity of current conditions after 18 months of this genocide. But more to this is the alarming mass internal displacement plan of the Zionist settler colonial state: to use aid in pushing the Palestinian population to the South of Gaza, taking advantage of their starvation and abjection.

The plan aims to replace existing aid delivery systems by setting up four aid distribution sites in southern Gaza, operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and supported by private companies. The newly built structures in Morag corridor’s south are speculated to be these sites. 

This displacement strategy that weaponizes aid and starvation – a clear and grave violation of international humanitarian law – checks out with Israel’s enforcement of “no-go zones” to fully occupy 70% of Gaza. There is also the declared Operation Gideon’s Chariot – now on its first phase – which will intensify the already aggressive military actions on the ground. The second phase, expected to roll out anytime soon, aims to clear Gaza of its people.

The imperialist US, of course, continues to give its all-out patronage to the Zionist occupation and genocide, despite the seeming distance that US President Donald Trump is showing. Trump may have skipped Israel and clinched business deals that ignore Israel’s interests during his brief visit to the Gulf region mid-May, but the aid delivery restructure was his administration’s idea. It was a win-win proposal – providing Israel the strategy to advance while putting up a humanitarian face for the US. 

The People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty expresses its utter rage and condemnation for such inhumanity. The weaponization of aid and starvation alone is already sinister, but to employ it in a systemic way to expand the Palestinian genocide is downright evil. 

As we mark the 77th year of the Nakba commemoration, we must call attention and demand accountability to the US-Israel’s worsening war crimes, especially this new mass displacement and starvation strategy in Gaza. It is urgent that we exert all effort to frustrate Israel’s military escalations toward alleviating the situation of the Palestinian people caught in this war and saving what is remaining of Palestine. Let us echo the immediate demands of the Palestinian people for humanitarian assistance, ceasefire, and peace talks. 

Most importantly, to save Gaza and ultimately free Palestine, we must continue to heighten our solidarity for its people and their freedom from the Zionist occupation, and support the Palestinian resistance in all its forms.  ###