‘Father, Will We Still Be Alive Tomorrow?’: A Gaza Doctor’s Appeal from JAZIC
Speaking live from Gaza, Dr. Eyad Amawi told the Second Jewish Anti-Zionist Congress that genocide destroys not only lives but society itself.
By Romana Rubeo
Destroying the Conditions for Life
DUBLIN – As the first day of the Second Jewish Anti-Zionist Congress turned from discussions of history, international law and political action to voices from Palestine itself, the conference hall fell silent for a live testimony from Gaza.
Speaking via video link on Friday, Palestinian physician Dr. Eyad Amawi, a member of Doctors Against Genocide, offered a stark account of life inside the besieged Strip, arguing that Israel’s military campaign has evolved into the systematic destruction of every condition necessary for civilian life.
“They (The Israelis – PC) are destroying everything,” Amawi said, explaining that the devastation extends far beyond homes reduced to rubble. “They are destroying the infrastructure. They have turned our environment into an environment of disease and infection.”
The consequences, he explained, are becoming increasingly severe as Gaza enters another summer under siege. Fuel shortages have forced many desalination plants to shut down, humanitarian organizations struggle to operate the few facilities that remain, and access to clean drinking water continues to deteriorate.
“Without water, there is no life,” Amawi said, describing a humanitarian crisis in which disease spreads through overcrowded displacement camps while medical services collapse under impossible conditions.
For Amawi, these conditions are neither accidental nor simply the inevitable consequences of war. Rather, they form part of what he described as a deliberate effort to dismantle Palestinian society itself.
Pointing to the destruction of farms, factories, local institutions and municipal services, he said more than 500,000 Palestinians have lost their livelihoods, while restrictions on fuel, construction materials and essential equipment have made reconstruction virtually impossible.
“What we are witnessing,” he argued, “is the systematic destruction of social life and the deliberate engineering of starvation.”
‘We Are Losing an Entire Generation’
While the destruction of infrastructure formed the backdrop to his testimony, Amawi repeatedly returned to the people living through its consequences, particularly Gaza’s children.
More than 64,000 children, he said, have been orphaned since the beginning of the war. Many now live in tents after losing not only their parents but also their homes, schools and communities.
“We are losing an entire generation,” Amawi warned, explaining that the phrase refers not only to those killed but also to the destruction of education, childhood and any prospect of normal development.
The crisis, however, became deeply personal as he described conversations inside his own family.
“My own children still ask me every day, ‘Father, will we still be alive tomorrow?'” he said, recalling nights punctuated by bombardment, drones and the constant fear of renewed displacement.
According to Amawi, Israeli military operations have left more than two million Palestinians confined to an increasingly narrow stretch of land after Israeli forces expanded their control over much of the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, he said, the healthcare system has been pushed beyond collapse.
Starvation, he explained, has weakened children’s immune systems, while hospitals lack the medicines, equipment and personnel needed to treat diseases that continue spreading through overcrowded camps.
Appealing for greater international action, Amawi said medical evacuations remain desperately needed, yet repeated efforts to bring sick children to safety, establish mobile hospitals and deliver medical supplies continue to face enormous obstacles.
“Medical missions are blocked. Medical supplies are prevented from entering,” he said, arguing that denying hospitals the materials needed to function serves one objective: “to destroy every possibility that Palestinians can resume a normal life or rebuild what has been destroyed.”
‘This is Our Homeland’
Amawi also questioned repeated international assurances that humanitarian conditions in Gaza were improving.
The number of aid trucks entering the Strip, he said, has declined in recent days, while promises to provide mobile homes and other essential shelter have largely gone unfulfilled. Fuel, batteries, solar panels and other basic necessities continue to be blocked despite the desperate needs of displaced families.
“There is no real humanitarian aid,” he said.
He contrasted the sustained international focus on Israeli security with what he described as the near absence of concern for Palestinian civilians.
“There are endless discussions about Israeli security,” Amawi observed, “yet there is no concern for the security of Palestinian children.”
Nor, he added, is there sufficient urgency regarding medical evacuations, functioning hospitals or the basic necessities required for people simply to remain alive.
Toward the end of his testimony, Amawi turned to what he described as the broader objective behind Israel’s policies.
Israeli leaders, he noted, have repeatedly spoken of removing Palestinians from Gaza altogether. But for those living through the destruction, he said, departure is neither possible nor acceptable.
“I do not know where they expect us to go,” Amawi said. “This is our homeland. This is our land. We will not leave. We will not give up.”
Addressing participants in Dublin and audiences around the world, he urged them to continue speaking publicly about Gaza and to pressure governments to move beyond expressions of concern.
“This brutality must stop now,” Amawi said, insisting that “there is no more time for empty political statements.”
“Our people here—and our people in the West Bank—have the right to live, just like every other person in the world.”
He ended not with a political argument but with a plea that echoed across the conference hall—a simple call born of nearly three years of war.
“Enough,” Amawi concluded.
As the live connection came to an end, Amawi’s final words—”This is our homeland. This is our land. We will not leave. We will not give up”—were met with a prolonged standing ovation from the audience in Dublin. Moments later, the conference hall echoed with chants of “Free, free Palestine,” as participants rose to their feet in solidarity with those still enduring Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.