The world lobby for labour affairs, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), has deplored the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying the political inaction amounted to criminal negligence.
Gaza, under bombardment from Israeli forces since October 2023, has lately become a subject of global discussion after the death toll reached 60,000 people. And the additional deaths were as a result of a lack of food, blamed on Israel’s starvation policy, which has hindered access to adequate humanitarian aid.
The UN says among the dead are 15,000 children. ITU said the continual punishment of civilians and a lack of ceasefire and accountability is an indictment of the world.
In an open letter addressed to heads of state, governments and international institutions, Luc Triangle, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General-Secretary, labelled the slow response as criminal culpability.
“This is not diplomacy. This is not neutrality. This is complicity,” said Mr Triangle. “Political inaction in the face of these atrocities is nothing less than criminal negligence.”
The ITUC represents is an umbrella body of workers’ organisations in 169 countries and territories and has 340 national affiliates around the world.
“Every bomb and every bullet fuels this war and empowers extremists,” the letter continued. “All indiscriminate attacks on civilians must stop.”
Since the Hamas militant group attacks on Israeli on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 250 people taken hostage, Israel’s military offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.
The latest starvation stories, however, have led to global protests and condemnations of Israel for disproportionate punishment of civilians.
The UN has repeatedly warned of mass starvation in Gaza, where 2.1 million people are struggling to survive.
The war has seen brutal violations on both sides. Hamas’ kidnapping of civilians, including peace activists, was condemned as a “crime against humanity”. However, Israel's mass detention of Palestinians without trial has also drawn sharp criticism.
“Thousands are imprisoned without due process,” he continued. “This systemic injustice only fuels radicalisation.”
Despite decades of international consensus on the two-state solution, Israel and Palestine existing side-by-side, the conflict has diluted that possibility, with Israel now increasingly opposed to it.
“Recognition of Palestine must be the starting point for peace, not a bargaining chip,” Triangle said.
Apartheid-like conditions prevail in the West Bank, where checkpoints, settler violence and economic strangulation are crippling Palestinian autonomy.
While Hamas’s October 7 massacre was widely condemned, critics argue that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has embraced its own extreme measures to finish off the group.
“Hamas won’t be defeated by Netanyahu, only by offering Palestinians hope for a free future. But occupation, poverty and humiliation are pushing more people into the arms of Hamas,” Mr Triangle further said.
Trade unions and civil society groups are urging the government to take immediate steps, including enforcing a ceasefire and allowing unrestricted aid into Gaza, imposing sanctions on settlement trade and arms suppliers, ensuring labour rights for Palestinian workers in Israel, and recognising Palestine as a precondition for peace talks.
