There is a war being waged genocide being committed in Gaza.

While the opening salvo was a horrible terrorist attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians that we unequivocally condemn, the response by the Israeli state has been neither proportionate, nor humane. The state of Israel has decided to wage a war against all civilians of Gaza (also defined as collective punishment, which is illegal under international law).

After many months of relentless, brutal bombings, where tens of thousands of innocent civilians are now dead, there is no ambiguity on the intent and goal of the Israeli state – which appears to be to bomb Gaza and its people out of existence. We strongly condemn this killing and support every nation and leader brave enough to call out this horrific act being committed by a supposedly democratic nation.

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Thousands of children have been killed or injured. Almost every child in the Gaza Strip has been exposed to deeply distressing events and trauma marked by widespread destruction, relentless attacks, displacement, and severe shortages of essential necessities such as food, water, and medicine.

We hope the citizens of Israel will rightfully reject and vote out this extreme government led by Netanyahu that clearly has no interest in peace, and refuses to prioritize the lives of the Israeli hostages or innocent civilians. We hope the people of Israel instead elect someone who wants to pursue a real and achievable solution to this decades-long conflict.

Paythen strongly and unequivocally condemns this current collective punishment being carried out by this government of Israel. And we join sensible governments and organisations the world over in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Why not stay silent?
We can’t. While it’s an easy decision to remain silent, we believe it’s our duty to do what little we can to speak out against any injustice – especially ones being perpetrated at this scale and unfortunately backed by the world’s leading democracies. This is the absolute minimum we can do and we stand by our stance, even if it loses us business.

Paythen has and will continue to donate a portion of our revenue to various charities that are assisting with urgently needed humanitarian aid in Gaza. We urge you to consider donating too.