The ongoing massacre in Gaza for the past three weeks is not solely Israel’s doing. The authorization granted by the West to Benjamin Netanyahu played a significant role in escalating the crime, turning it from an act of revenge into an opportunity for systematic extermination, with a clear objective: the process of “transferring.”
It has become evident, through the increasing pace of killings, that Hamas is not the only target of the Israeli war machine. The population of the Gaza Strip is also targeted, as is the entire infrastructure that would make the area habitable in the future.
What Gaza is experiencing today is not just a war between the Israeli army and Hamas; it is the targeting of over two million Palestinians in plain view of the world. While Israeli warplanes were dropping tons of explosives on their heads, the White House committed a parallel crime by rejecting a humanitarian ceasefire resolution in the United Nations General Assembly.
This should be enough to assert that major partners of Israel, particularly the United States, and a considerable portion of Western capitals and media, are complicit in the war machine, its events, and its details.
In modern times, since World War II, we have not witnessed such international collusion against a Palestinian population as we do today in Gaza. The world has turned a blind eye to a long history of Israeli governments rejecting “peace” over the past three decades. The international community deemed the events of October 7 in Gaza as the Palestinian – and not Hamas’s – rejection of peace.
What is happening is no less than a stark violation of values upheld since the end of World War II. Turning a blind eye to a war crime that verges on extermination is a significant failure of these values, unprecedented since the Holocaust. While the number of casualties in the Gaza massacre may not exceed those in Syria or Iraq, for instance, these two cases did not unfold with the backdrop of sessions legitimizing the killings within the Western decision-making circles.
Yes, today the Israeli war machine operates in Gaza with the support of the United States. However, it also enjoys the sponsorship of a significant portion of European states and the lack of sensitivity from some Arab countries regarding the injustice towards Palestinians. This world ignores the fact that Palestinians have been subjected to violations by successive Israeli right-wing governments since the Second Intifada. Those who say today that Hamas is against peace conveniently forget Israeli practices that were far more explicit in rejecting peace and provoking violence. The annexation of Jerusalem, the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, the blockade on Gaza, house demolitions, and the killing of journalists—all these actions preceded the October 7 events. Condemning the Gaza operation without considering its context suggests bias towards the victim, no matter their identity.
Today, precisely on Saturday night, the Gaza Strip was isolated from the world. The internet was cut off, and, of course, so are electricity, water, and fuel. Israeli fighter jets were allowed to kill without direct media transmission. Simultaneously, the White House rejected a humanitarian ceasefire resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. This is in addition to other factors that confirm that the perpetrator is not Tel Aviv alone, for this has coincided with international institutions’ decisions to cease funding Palestinian humanitarian projects and question the identity of the victims and the details of the crime. Furthermore, Washington’s rush to adopt the Israeli narrative and doubt the casualty figures, for example, was akin to boosting Netanyahu’s determination for further killing. And here, we are talking about civilians, not combatants.
What is happening in Gaza is nothing less than a process of purging the population. Anyone who remains alive should understand that this land is not suitable for continuing life. They should realize that no one wants them to stay in their city, camp, or farm. The cruelest aspect is that nobody has given them a map for displacement, refuge, or salvation. A harrowing “punishment” is taking place, not targeting Hamas, but targeting Palestinians who have been isolated and besieged for over 17 years!
A few months ago, during a press conference, Netanyahu raised a map of Israel that made no mention of a Palestinian state, and he stated that normalization with Arab countries would not be hindered by Palestinian pressure. The world that stands by him today in his war on the people of Gaza did not prepare for this scene in his statement, where he said that Hamas is an obstacle to peace that must be removed. The real obstacle to peace is Israel, and what is happening today, is not “removing Hamas” but removing the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
