GAZA, (PIC)
Activists and supporters of the Palestinian cause have responded to calls to surround Israeli and American embassies in order to force the occupying authorities to halt the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has lasted for over a year.
Israeli occupation forces have been using heavy firepower in northern Gaza for 16 days, amidst killings, destruction, displacement, starvation, and direct targeting of hospitals in the widest ethnic cleansing operation and acts of genocide since the war began. This has been accompanied by cuts in communications and internet access, isolating 200,000 people from the outside world.
Two leaders from Hamas have called for encircling Israeli and American embassies to pressure for an end to the massacres in Gaza. Khalil al-Hayya emphasized in an interview with Al Jazeera at dawn Sunday that the Israeli massacre in Beit Lahiya, which claimed the lives of around 200 people, should not go unnoticed, urging Arab and Islamic masses to surround American and Israeli embassies. This call was echoed by leader Ezzat Al-Resheq, who questioned, “If the embassies of the occupation and its interests around the world had been surrounded by continuous and escalating movements a year ago, specifically since the massacre at the Baptist Hospital, would the enemy have dared to carry out the Beit Lahiya massacre this morning?”
Activist Ibrahim Hassan reacted to the hashtag #Surround_the_Embassies with a picture of a girl named Rahaf, who lost both of her legs due to Israeli shelling, saying “If you are not moved when you see women and children crushed under the rubble, where is your heart? Where is your humanity?”
Another activist named “Alif” commented on the daily scenario of Arab peoples preoccupied with their own lives and families, casually sipping coffee as they hear news of the ongoing Israeli crimes in Gaza without any consideration to the ongoing genocide.
For his part, Hashim al-Junaidi called on the Egyptian and Jordanian armies to support Gaza, referencing Allah’s promise to aid those who support Him: “If you forsake them, He will forsake you, and you will suffer worse than what they suffer.”
Majd al-Din al-Luqmi engaged with the hashtag #Surround_the_Embassies, saying that “what is happening in Gaza exceeds crime and oppression,” holding Arab regimes responsible for the events.
Wahaj al-Maqtari urged those in countries with Israeli or American embassies to act within their vicinity and surround them, rather than just tweeting on social media.
A Moroccan activist said that the cries of the besieged children in Jabalia should reach the world, attaching a photo of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, asserting that surrounding the embassies is “the least we can do for Jabalia to stop the massacre.”
Hassan Sarami tweeted a picture of a child survivor of the Beit Lahiya massacre, covered in the dust and ash of Israeli bombardment, calling on Muslims worldwide to be the voice of Palestine, noting that anyone who remains silent is complicit in the crime.
Another individual wrote that the majority of the Arab people are in a state of deep anger regarding what is happening in Gaza, addressing his followers that going to the embassies and surrounding them is the least they can do.
Yahya Bashir wrote that surrounding Israeli embassies in various countries is a wake-up call that will mobilize the world to stop the genocide in Gaza, affirming that anything less is ineffective and meaningless.
Ali Abdo questioned those who attend mosques and stand before Allah in prayer, asking, “With what face do they stand before Allah without taking action to support His servants who are being massacred in Gaza?”
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation, with absolute American support, has been waging a war of genocide against Gaza, resulting in over 142,000 martyrs and wounded, most of whom are women and children, along with 10,000 missing under the rubble and in the streets, as the Israeli occupation forces prevent rescue teams from reaching them.
