Gaza "Genocide" Has Set "Horrendous Precedent": Priyanka Gandhi

 Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra strongly condemned the Israeli actions -- without naming Israel -- in the Gaza Strip, saying that the "genocide" has set a "horrendous precedent" and will go down as a "great shame" in the history of the human race.

In a social media post, the Congress general secretary cited the incidents of bombing on hospitals and alleged cases of torture against doctors in Gaza. She also raised concern over funding and arms being provided to the "oppressive regime" in Israel.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which started after the October 7 attacks, has created rampages in the Gaza Strip, leading to a "humanitarian crisis" in the enclave.

Taking to social media platform X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "What the international community has allowed in Gaza will go down in history not only as a great shame for the whole of humanity, but as a turning point for the human race."

She said that the world is 'blind' to the "genocide" being carried out in the Gaza Strip and no one is stepping in even when an 'entire nation' is "begging for help".

"Being blind to genocide as it is carried out with impunity, turning our backs to the merciless slaughter of thousands of innocent children, refusing to step in while an entire nation starves and begs for help, while hospitals are bombed, doctors tortured and humiliated, and patients allowed to die, enabling an oppressive regime by offering its ships our ports, fueling its inhumane rampage by providing it with more and more funding and arms - all this has now set a horrendous precedent," she further stated.

Priyanka also said that everyone will have to pay an "unimaginable price" for this if voices are not raised against it.

"All rules of justice, humanity and international decorum have been broken. Humanity has been bled, and each one of us will pay an unimaginable price for this some day unless we raise our voices and stand up for what is right today," she added.

Notably, the Congress party has consistently weighed strong support for the people of Palestine ever since the conflict erupted.

In October last year, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed a resolution supporting the rights of the Palestinian people and calling for a ceasefire in the region.

The party had also condemned the Hamas attack, stating that a solution can never be reached through any type of violence.

The conflict in Gaza escalated after Hamas carried out a massive terror attack against Israel on October 7, killing over 1200 people, taking around 250 people hostage and even committing sexual assault against civilians.

In response, Israel launched a strong counteroffensive targeting the Hamas terror units in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the war will continue until Hamas is "destroyed", the Times of Israel reported.

"We're continuing the war to the end," Netanyahu said in a statement to the media. "Until all the goals we set are met: destroying Hamas, releasing our hostages and removing the threat from Gaza."

However, the Israeli air assault and ground operations has drawn frowns from rights groups and the Arab world over the mounting civilian death toll.

According to Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, over 29,000 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks including more than 12,000 children.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced around 85 per cent of Gaza's population amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 6 per cent infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.

UN experts have even declared Israel's actions in Gaza to be tantamount to "crimes against humanity."

Meanwhile, a case is also underway at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where South Africa has accused Israel of "committing genocide" in Gaza.

The ICJ, although didn't order an 'immediate ceasefire', but did direct Israel to take "every measure possible to avoid genocide" while also ensuring humanitarian aid, Al Jazeera reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)