While many families in our country may gather at their dinner table to share a meal at the end of the day, families in Gaza struggle to have their basic needs met.
“It is one of the, if not the, most complicated issues that the world has ever known,” social studies teacher Mrs. Ashley Manger said. “This conflict is rooted in principles for which there are no right or wrong answers.”
October 7, 2023 marks an impactful moment in what many call the Israeli-Palestinian war. Although this conflict has been active since the early 20th century, there hasn’t been as much of a spotlight on it as there is now.
“I know that the death counts are in the thousands and I know that there are few people left,” sophomore Gabriel Heeke said. “The famine is intense, to a point where it might become irreversible.”
The civilians of Gaza have not been receiving sufficient aid for months now, according to BritishRedCross. The six-week ceasefire between Israel and Gaza in January of this year was the last time in which many people bringing aid were allowed into the strip. Since then, other nations have not been able to sufficiently deliver any of the necessary medicine, food, or water, among other essentials.
“I think if a lot of people put more pressure and knew about [the war] then there will be more organizations and governments that have to act on Palestine,” Heeke said.
On June 10, 2025, 22-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg set sail on international waters. She, along with other activists, boarded a ship carrying aid and headed to Gaza. Their journey to providing aid was unsuccessful; some activists were immediately deported by the Israeli government while others awaited trial, according to PBS News.
“I believe that Greta Thunberg demonstrates some very courageous behavior for a young person and I applaud her for her efforts to bring awareness and assistance to people in need,” Manger said. “Obviously there are people who don’t share her beliefs on who is at fault for the destruction and devastation in Gaza, including the Israeli government, so she is taking a risk by standing for Palestine. I find it difficult to place full blame on one side in this conflict but I appreciate that she holds true to her convictions about who is at fault.”
Many people online, especially young people, have shared their opinions of who should be taking care of getting aid to Palestine during the restrictions being imposed.
“I believe that it is the job of all of us to help people – where we can, and how we can,” Manger said. “Ialso believe that the government shares responsibility for taking care of its people and taking care to teach and support people to help themselves.”
Thunberg’s attempt of getting aid into Gaza hasn’t been the only one. Organizations like the Palestine Red Crescent Society, UN World Food Programme, and non-government ones have been working to get help to Gaza.
“A lot of people have fallen into this rabbit hole where they just take in all the bad that’s happening; all the death counts, all of the bad reports and bad news, which is important to look at, but there are good things to look at,” Heeke said. “There are people who have managed to get into Egypt, ceasefires that have happened, aid that’s been dropped in, and we need to look at that as a victory because while it’s not fixing the problem it’s still getting closer, and we need to celebrate the small victories.”
Ceasefire talks between Egyptian and Hamas officials include not only the release of hostages and prisoners from both Israel and Hamas but also a “flood of humanitarian aid”, according to AP News. If the Israeli government and Hamas agree to the conditions, the civilians of Gaza would receive the aid they desperately need.
