Opinion | My relatives in Gaza are dying by the dozens

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I am from Gaza. A land that has not known peace for decades. Besieged for more than 18 years, my family there has been the victim of Zionism’s unspeakable crimes. From restrictions of movement, to massacres, to a city reduced to rubble, to brutal starvation, they’ve seen it all.

In just 21 months, Israel has killed 35 people in my extended family — and that joins the dozens violently killed over the past 75 years. Women, elders, children as young as eight and relatives with special needs — like my relative Mohammad— have been shot dead by drones. The four men who rushed to save Mohammad were also gunned down. Their bodies lay unburied for weeks until a ceasefire finally allowed burial in January.

But those who died are, painful as it is, the lucky ones. What remains is a slow, humiliating man-made famine. My relatives in Gaza City survive on a single, sparse meal every day or two of lentils and flour. Money sent from abroad buys nearly nothing. Prices have surged beyond reach. All income sources vanished within the past two years, and people are entirely dependent on aid.

Yet Israel has dismantled the United Nations-led aid system — bombing warehouses, killing aid personnel and mounting a disinformation campaign to discredit U.N. agencies. In its place is the so‑called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the U.S. and Israel. It’s not a relief operation — it’s what Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen called “a death trap.” Aid distribution has been reduced from more than 400 U.N. aid sites to just four militarized GHF sites. People must risk gunfire and long treks to reach them, and many have been injured or killed trying.

A thousand people have been killed, and nearly 4,000 wounded, at these distribution points. Doctors Without Borders has called this “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.” The U.N. Secretary‑General has called for the distribution scheme to be dismantled and replaced with legitimate UN‑coordinated aid.

My family members are down to a precious handful of flour and lentils that will sustain them for only days. Some write online that they wish for a quick death in an airstrike — anything to avoid the slow agony of starvation. It is degrading and completely unacceptable. A dignified people should not be dying like animals left in a neglected zoo.

It is also now indisputable in the international human rights community: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, genocide scholars and Israeli groups, including B’Tselem, have all reached this conclusion — the same truth Palestinians have been sounding the alarm about for decades — that Israel aims to physically eradicate our people.

Equally enraging is the silencing here in Minneapolis. Calling Israel a genocidal settler‑colonial entity and naming Zionist racism is still considered taboo. Even as babies are starved to death in Gaza, some local Jewish groups prioritize policing speech over ending genocide. Some synagogues encourage service in the Israeli military despite its known war crimes.

Our own Sen. Amy Klobuchar just took a picture with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an accused war criminal, a couple weeks ago. Last summer, Gov. Tim Walz refused a meeting with Palestinian families in Minnesota whose relatives had been killed by Israel. The University of Minnesota administration has had student protesters speaking out against the genocide arrested, and the Board of Trustees refuses to divest millions of dollars in companies that are tied to Israel.

Meanwhile, anti‑boycott laws in Minnesota remain on the books to protect Israel. No other country on Earth has that same privilege. State investments continue to prop up companies profiting from mass death, and our state board of investments refuses even to utter the word “divestment.”

• When will we stop amplifying genocide deniers?

• When will Minnesota’s legislature repeal the anti‑boycott law blocking support for Palestinian rights?

• When will the State Board of Investments divest billions of taxpayer dollars funding war profiteers?

Enough is enough. We must confront genocide, not obscure it. We must reinstate U.N.‑run aid channels, open crossings for lifesaving humanitarian supplies, halt all arms sales and hold officials complicit in this campaign to account.

The time to act is now.