After the end of the short ceasefire in March, the State of Israel has doubled down on its genocidal offensive against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Since Israel broke that ceasefire on March 18, at least 14,000 Gazans have been murdered by the IDF and at least 60,000 people (more than half of whom were children) have been killed since the start of the war, which has also left hundreds of thousands injured, and destroyed virtually all of the cities’ infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, Israel has used limited food distribution, overseen by U.S. mercenaries, to punish and humiliate Gazans and to trap them in the southern part of the strip, where they have been concentrated in massive camps. This genocide, which the entire world has been witnessing live since October 2023, would not be possible without the complicity of imperialist countries like the United states, Germany, France, and many others who have provided political cover as well as direct military and economic support to Israel.

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Now, thousands of people from more than thirty countries have decided to put their bodies on the line and march from Cairo, Egypt to the Rafah Crossing to demand an end to the genocide and for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. As the organizers of the event, known as the Global March to Gaza put it:

Gaza is starving, crushed, isolated. This is not just about symbolic support. We want to provide humanitarian aid with a strong civilian presence to generate moral and international media pressure. If states fail, the people must intervene.

In response to this call, activists and politicians from several Arab countries, Europe, the United States, and Latin America will gather in Cairo on June 12. There they will make camp for a day before heading to the city of El Arish, on the Mediterranean coast. From there, they will march in solidarity for two or three days toward Rafah. Upon arrival, they will camp for three days where they will attempt to distribute supplies before returning to Cairo on June 19.

This march takes on added significance because it comes shortly after the Israeli government’s arrest of the crew of the Madleen.

After more than 80 days of a near-total Israeli blockade of Gaza, Greta Thunberg, European Parliament MP Rima Hassan, and other activists were on a boat to deliver humanitarian aid in an attempt to break the siege maintained by the colonial state. Though Thunberg has since been released, many of the crew still remain detained in the Zionist state.

The famine caused by Israel’s siege of the Strip is causing a humanitarian tragedy, and at least one UN spokesperson has declared that “Gaza is the hungriest place on the planet.” As protests continue across the imperialist world and the Middle East, the Global March to Gaza has the chance to add more firepower to the struggles of the masses who are demanding an end to the genocide and freedom for the Palestinian people. 

Originally Published in Spanish on June 10 in La Izquierda Diario

Translated and adapted by James Dennis Hoff