Israel continues to inflict horrendous atrocities on Palestinians in Gaza. Over the past four weeks Israeli bombardments have killed more than 11,363 Palestinians, of whom at least 4,607 are children. One Palestinian child has been killed every ten minutes.

Unicef has reported that Gaza is now “a graveyard for thousands of children”. According to the charity Save the Children, more children have been killed in Gaza during the last few weeks than the total killed in conflicts around the world in every year since 2019.

The justification for the bombardment and genocide of Palestinians is in retaliation of the Hamas attack on civilians on that fated date, October 7, 2023. Many are of the mindset that Israel has the right to defend itself and this is true, in fact, we all do.

However I believe their response is overkill and clearly obliterates whatever justification they could have claimed. To be killing innocent civilians and children is heinous. To bomb hospitals is unthinkable and displays callousness at its core.

I’m not well versed in the Jewish religion but surely it is not what the Torah, the book of the Jews supports. After a bit of research I did find the following in BBC Bitesize: “Judaism teaches that humans must not destroy life but preserve it. God created life, and life therefore belongs to God. Only God can take away life, not humans. To take life is a sin and is against God's will.”

In Genesis, the first book of the Torah, it is explained that God created the world for humankind. “War kills and destroys what God has made and, as stewards of Creation, Jews have a duty to protect and care for everything that has been created, including humans, nature, and the planet.”

From this I gather that the way this current war/conflict is being conducted, is clearly against the teachings of the Torah.

Islam has ironically a similar stance on war and conflict as it forbids aggressive warfare.

According to the Koran 2:190: “And fight in the way of God with those who fight with you, but aggress not: God loves not the aggressors.” Muslim scholars have noted that this aayat forbids the killing of non-combatants, including women and children.

Further, the rules of war as outlined by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are: ”Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful.”

This conflict, it seems to me, will not be over until the Palestinians are completely exterminated which is the aim of all those concerned as they sit by and do nothing to endorse or enforce an immediate ceasefire. The Israelis don’t want peace, they want the land for themselves and their allies.

The United Nations should be insisting on:

• An immediate ceasefire, including directly calling on Israel to cease air and ground assaults on Gaza

• Immediate and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza

• An end to Israel’s siege on Gaza, including lifting all restrictions on movement and resources into and out of Gaza

These are the things that need to happen to ensure peace, once and for all, however the question is: do they want peace or do they want total annihilation of the Palestinian people?

Allah says in Koran (49:13): “Human beings, We created you all from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most God-fearing of you. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.”

I pray for an immediate ceasefire, I also pray for an end to Israel's occupation and to apartheid in Gaza. I pray for the healing of our sick world. Bermuda I know you will pray with me.

Ameen

As salaam alaikum (Peace be unto you)

• Linda Walia Ming is a member of the Bermuda Hijab Dawah team, a group of Muslim women who reside in Bermuda and have a goal of educating the community about the religion of Islam