Norwegian physician blames world leaders for inaction against Israel attacks on Gaza

By Nur Asena Erturk

A Norwegian activist and doctor has blamed world leaders for the killing of civilians in Israel's attacks on Gaza.

"President Biden, Mr. Blinken, are you awake? EU President Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, President Macron, can you hear these screams from Gaza yesterday?" Mads Gilbert said in a video he shared on the social media platform X.

Gilbert, who has worked for 16 years at Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, recalled that Israel bombed a UN school and shelter in the region, killing 700 civilians, 70% of them women and children.

"You do nothing, you do less than nothing, you actively support the Israeli war machine and their killing," the doctor lashed out, as he said that 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far.

The activist blamed world leaders for allowing the killings, and even supporting them with weapons, political support and inaction.

"The industrial scale of killing in Gaza reminds many of us of the industrial horrible scale of killing of Jews by the Nazi German army in 1940-1945. This is not self-defense for Israel, this is an all-out genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank," Gilbert asserted.

He denounced "politics of elimination, systematic killing with industrial scale, and military attacks on an unprotected Palestinian civilian population."

"You are responsible. You are writing your names in the darkest blackest pages of the history books," Gilbert hammered, and added: "You are complicit and you will be accountable."

The doctor called for putting an end to the killings, lifting the siege, announcing an immediate cease-fire, and protecting hospitals and health care workers.

He also stressed the need for water, food, medical supplies, and fuel.

"It is happening on your call. You are responsible. Stop Israel mass murder and genocide in Gaza," Gilbert said.

The Israeli army resumed bombing the Gaza Strip last Friday after declaring an end to a weeklong humanitarian pause.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

The death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since the start of the conflict is nearly 15,900, the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave said on Monday.

The number of wounded through the same period has risen to more than 42,000.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.​​​​​​​