Top women officials in Belgium voice solidarity with Gazans

By Selen Valente

BRUSSELS (AA) - Three women state ministers in Belgium on Wednesday voiced their solidarity with their fellow women in Gaza, stressing that a cease-fire and access to humanitarian aid should be ensured.

There are seven female ministers in the Cabinet of the federal government in Belgium, with three of them recently taking joint initiatives on the Gaza issue, on the occasion of Belgium assuming the rotating presidency of the EU.

Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez, Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder, and Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, who came together for Belgium's air aid drop operation to Gaza, spoke to Anadolu on the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day.

Gennez, who previously said she wanted the top world court to open a war crime investigation against Israel and that Belgium was considering recognizing the Palestinian state, stressed that many women and children were injured and lost their lives.

"Things that happen in Gaza, affect the most vulnerable every single time," she said.

"The important thing is to give the message of 'hold on to life' to the women of Gaza. Continue to protect your honor. Keep your children alive. The world is proud of you," she added.

- Humanitarian access and cease-fire

Dedonder, on her part, said: "I want to give the message to Palestinian women and children that we support them and that we are with them."

Recalling that, as the Defense Ministry, they cooperated with Jordan and sent humanitarian aid to be airdropped to Gaza, Dedonder said: "We hope to be able to bring aid to them by land, through the border gates, and with trucks," she said.

Foreign Minister Lahbib also said her only message for today is to ensure an urgent cease-fire.

- Women in Gaza

At least 8,900 women have died in Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack.

According to UN data, approximately 1 million women and girls have been displaced. More than 3,000 women lost their husbands and had to take responsibility for their families.

UN rapporteurs point out that pregnant women are having an increasing number of miscarriages, that they are having to give birth by C-section without painkillers and anesthesia, and that mothers cannot breastfeed their babies due to hunger and thirst.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive, now in its 153rd day, on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 30,700 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.