'Ramadan Flood': Palestinian factions call for worldwide action for Gaza during Islamic month

Palestinian factions have called for global action during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan against the genocide in Gaza, as the Palestinian enclave continues to be bombarded by Israel since 7 October.

Dubbed "Ramadan Flood" – similar to Al-Aqsa Flood, the name given to Hamas' operation on October 7 when it attacked southern Israel – the Palestinian groups in a joint statement called for solidarity with Gaza to continue through different means.

Ramadan will commence on either March 10 or 11 depending on the lunar calendar.

"The Palestinian cause and the Gaza Strip are being exposed to a genocidal war and an unprecedented aggression that targets all meanings of humanity and exceeds in its terror the behaviour of fascism and Nazism," the statement read.

"Through this [war], Israel seeks to liquidate the Palestinian cause and implement its plans against our people through displacement, resettlement, the Judaization of the land and Islamic and Christian sanctities, ethnic cleansing, and racial discrimination," it added.

The factions called for global action to continue exerting pressure through boycotts, cutting off all supplies to Israel, public strikes, and organising marches throughout the world.

The groups affirmed their support for the resistance against Israel’s occupation, calling for resistance in "all its forms".

"We affirm the right of our people to freedom, self-determination, to return to their land and homes, and the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital."

The statement was only signed by "the Palestinian factions" with no mention of specific group names.

Millions of people marched around the world in support of Gaza on Saturday as Israel’s deadline for an invasion of the city of Rafah approaches. Pro-Palestinian marches have taken place weekly or monthly around the world since the war started.

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In Israel, the resettlement of Gaza is no longer a fringe idea ⬇️

✍️ @jess_buxbaumhttps://t.co/iF45HNotPC

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) February 7, 2024

At the southernmost end of the Gaza enclave, Rafah has been hit by airstrikes but is the only major urban centre in the territory that has yet to be stormed by Israeli ground troops.

Though have some trickled into Egypt’s Sinai across the border, over a million Palestinians are crammed into the city with nowhere else to go.

Hamas' "Al-Aqsa Flood" on October 7 came in response to decades of Israeli aggression and blockade, the group says. The attack left around 1,200 people dead that day and Hamas took more than 250 hostages, of which around 130 remain held in Gaza, some of them killed in Israeli strikes.

While vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel’s relentless air and ground assault on Gaza has killed over 30,400 people, mostly women and children, and has rendered most of the territory uninhabitable.