Sheikh Qassem: Gaza genocide enabled by global silence, Arab inaction
5 Min Read
Hezbollah’s Sheikh Naim Qassem denounces US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, urging Arab nations to act and isolate the occupation.
-
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli ground and air aggression stand in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP)
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem issued a strongly worded statement on Tuesday condemning what he described as an “American–Israeli war of genocide” targeting the Palestinian people in Gaza, accusing the international community of silence in the face of crimes that “have surpassed all humanitarian and moral standards.”
“What the oppressed Palestinian people are enduring in Gaza, from American–Israeli aggression, to escalating savagery, genocide, starvation, and mass killing, has gone beyond every ethical and humanitarian threshold,” Sheikh Qassem declared.
He sharply criticized the inaction of world powers and their failure to enforce international law, saying, “Global silence is a condemnation of governments and officials everywhere, and it renders what is called international law completely ineffective.”
Inadequate actions taken by world leaders
Referencing recent calls by over two dozen states to halt the war, Sheikh Qassem dismissed such statements as inadequate. “It is not enough that 25 countries call for stopping the war on Gaza. These declarations do not absolve them of their complicity, nor of the support that some major powers have extended since the beginning of the aggression,” he said.
“Positions and condemnations do not exonerate anyone. What’s required is for these stances to be transformed into concrete actions that stop the massacres and crimes.”
Sheikh Qassem called for the imposition of sanctions on “Israel,” international isolation, legal prosecution, and a complete halt to all forms of cooperation with the occupation entity.
“The greater responsibility,” he added, “falls on the shoulders of Arab and Islamic nations, both governments and peoples. Choose your positions, and set your own thresholds, but do not stand by as spectators.”
Call for unity against 'Israel', US
He urged immediate steps, including ending normalization, shutting down Israeli embassies, halting trade, and convening regional efforts to support Palestine and Gaza “even with the bare minimum of essential life needs.”
“When America is confronted by a united front and voice alongside the Palestinian people, it will be forced to yield and retreat,” Sheikh Qassem stressed.
He concluded by warning that history will not forget those who stood idly by. “History will record this shame upon the leaders and systems of humanity during a time of hateful starvation and mass slaughter of the hungry,” he said.
“The injustice of America and Israel will reach those who remain silent in the face of the oppressed,” he warned, concluding with a Quranic reference: “Indeed, the oppressors will not succeed,” adding, “The more Israel escalates its brutality and arrogance, the closer it draws to its catastrophic downfall, God willing.”
Hamas condemns international silence
Similarly, the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas issued a statement on Tuesday sharply criticizing the continued silence of Arab and Islamic governments in the face of what it described as a “systematic genocide and criminal starvation campaign” unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
In its statement, Hamas said the official responses so far “fall drastically short of the magnitude of the catastrophe,” as more than 2.25 million Palestinians endure extreme hunger and bombardment.
“This deafening silence crushes the hopes of our oppressed people and emboldens [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to persist in his policies of starvation and extermination,” the movement stated.
Hamas pointed to the worsening conditions in Gaza, where people are left without food or water while “thousands of aid trucks pile up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.”
Dozens killed, scores wounded
At least 77 Palestinians were killed and 376 others injured in the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The fatalities include five bodies of martyrs retrieved from beneath rubble as Israeli bombardment continues to target densely populated civilian areas.
Emergency crews report that many victims remain trapped under debris or lying in the open, unreachable due to ongoing airstrikes and Israeli-imposed access restrictions.
Since the beginning of the Israeli genocide on October 7, 2023, the cumulative death toll in Gaza has risen to 59,106, with 142,511 injuries. In the most recent phase of the assault, from March 18, 2025, onward, the ministry has recorded 8,268 martyrs and 30,470 wounded.
The humanitarian crisis continues to worsen as starvation spreads across the Strip. In the last 24 hours alone, five Palestinians were killed and over 52 were wounded while attempting to collect food aid. These casualties bring the total number of starved Palestinians killed during aid-seeking efforts to 1,026, with more than 6,563 injured since the beginning of the aid crisis.
