Left parties issued a joint statement on Thursday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and informing that they will observe October seven, which marks the completion of a year of an ongoing conflict in Gaza, as a day to demand an end to the war.
The statement was issued by five parties -- the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the All India Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.
It was signed by Prakash Karat on behalf of the CPI(M), Dipankar Bhattacharya of the CPI(ML) Liberation, D Raja of the CPI, Manoj Bhattacharya of the RSP and G Devarajan of the AIFB.
The parties called upon the Indian government to halt all arms exports to Israel and work for a two-State solution, whereby an independent Palestinian State can come into existence.
“October 7 marks the completion of one year of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. In the name of retaliating against Hamas for the latter’s attack within Israel on October 7 last year, the Israeli armed forces have conducted a brutal and indiscriminate attack on Palestinians in Gaza,” the Left parties said.
They said as a result of the war, nearly 42,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, have died and thousands more are buried under the rubble.
“Israel has not spared residential buildings, schools and hospitals from their savage aerial and ground bombardment,” they said, adding that a medical journal, “The Lancet”, has estimated that the death toll from Israel’s aggression could be above 85,000 (as of August 6), counting both the direct and indirect fatalities.
The Left parties pointed out that even as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in January that the Israeli actions were leading to possible genocide and called upon Israel to cease military actions in Gaza, Israel has so far “scuttled all meaningful talks for a ceasefire”.
