Israeli MKs, Arab Committee announce hunger strike in response to Gaza starvation


Activists from the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Jaffa on 27 July 2025

Deiaa Haj Yahia reports in Haaretz on 27 July 2025:

At a press conference on Sunday, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel Chairman Mohammad Barakeh, together with prominent Arab-Israeli MKs, called to immediately end the war in Gaza, withdraw the IDF from the Strip and allow the unrestricted free flow of humanitarian aid – food, medications, and basic needs.

The press conference was held at the Monitoring Committee in Jaffa, where the hunger strike will take place. Strikers, public delegations from the Arab community, representatives of Jewish leftist groups opposing the war and occupation, and local and foreign media were prominent attendees.

Chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, Mohammed Barakeh, thanked the League for the Jaffa Arabs hosting the struggle. He said that the hunger strike was in response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, in particular, “The crime of starvation raging before the eyes of Israeli society, which is watching but not acting.”

Barakeh’s opening remarks praised the hunger strikes and attendees, emphasizing the symbolism of holding the protest in Jaffa. “80 percent of Gazans are refugees from Jaffa, Ashkelon and their environs. This isn’t a question of October 7, but of the 1948 Nakba.”  He added that international pressure, and possibly also protests, resulted in a minuscule change in Israel, but, “What entered Gaza today is not worthy of mention, not even two trucks a day, and it solves nothing for the two million people coping with deadly starvation.”

Barakeh reiterated, “Our demand is clear – a complete halt to the attacks, a full withdrawal of the occupation forces and free opening for the entry of humanitarian aid… The crimes of the Israeli government and the fascist right are comparable to the Nazis’ crimes in World War II.”

He later set out the hunger strike’s timetable through Thursday. A political rally will be held at the Gaza Garden, next to the strike compound, at 4 P.M. on Monday. The hunger strike will end at 4 P.M. on Tuesday, and a protest will be held outside the U.S. Embassy at 5 P.M.. “The U.S. is a partner in this crime – with arms, money, and diplomatic support,” he said.

Sakhnin Mayor and head of the Arab Local Authorities Committee Mazen Ghnaim said, “The presence in this hall proves that our community is alive and fighting. The hunger strike expresses solidarity with our brothers in Gaza who are starving for bread.” He cited the support of world solidarity movements compared with the “Old and sleeping Arab world.”  “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is trying to shape the Middle East to his interests and exploit the war to advance political and electoral objectives,” Ghnaim concluded, warning the government not to pursue its discriminatory policy against the Arab community.

Prof. Amos Goldberg, MK Mansour Abbas, MK Ahmed Tibi, MK Aida Touma-Suleiman, and the Chairman of the Supreme Steering Committee of Negev Arabs, Taleb el-Sana, also spoke.

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