Left parties issue statement demanding end of conflict in Gaza

New Delhi: Left parties issued a statement on Thursday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and said they will observe the completion of a year of an ongoing conflict in the region on October 7 with meetings and demonstrations.

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".

"Not only that, Israel has mounted attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank throughout the year. Israel has used pagers and other communications on a mass scale to trigger bombs, escalating and expanding the conflict into Lebanon," they said.

"All around the world, millions of people have been protesting against the Israeli genocidal war and calling for an end to the war. On the first anniversary of this barbarous war, peace-loving people of India demand an immediate end to the war," the Left parties said.

They said on October 7, they will call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to hostilities, and demonstrations and meetings will be held.

Since Hamas attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 others hostage, Israel's attack continues, the parties said, adding that it has neither defeated Hamas or negotiated an end to the conflict.

More than 40,000 Gazans and over 700 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel have been killed in the ongoing conflict, they pointed out.