“People whose homes are small and with roofs made of tin are now grateful for this blessing, so they can quickly rescue their families from under the rubble without excavation equipment,” wrote Noor, a friend of mine, on X.

This catastrophic reality in Gaza, described by The Washington Post as a mass grave for children, reveals around 2,000 missing individuals under the rubble of destroyed houses due to Israeli airstrikes. The lack of modern equipment to locate victims makes the lives of those trapped under collapsed buildings uncertain.

During the writing of this article on the 31st day of the war, intense military aircraft and reconnaissance flights were observed in the Shabura camp in Rafah. People expected subsequent bombings, and indeed, around 10 p.m., Israeli planes bombed a house about 400 meters away from our location, causing debris and shrapnel to fly over the house we were staying in. About an hour later, we learned about the complete destruction of the Hamaydeh family’s house without any warning, killing five family members, a woman and her four children, with dozens more injured.

On the Sunday morning of the fifth week of the war, communication and the internet were restored after a few hours of interruption. Israeli media, especially the official ones, hosted various analysts, especially retired military generals and academics, to outline visions, suggestions, and plans for the post-destruction era of “Hamas” and attempt to answer the question: “Who will govern Gaza?”

In the Israeli media, Gaza is portrayed as a war-torn and devastated area, seen from aerial images revealing the extent of Israeli brutality. Gaza is presented as a battlefield through the muzzle of a cannon, devoid of humans and dead children. The Israeli media obscures and hides the truth and information about the genocide, practicing deception even on Israelis, as if they speak to themselves in the language of murder and hatred for Palestinians, without mentioning the massacres committed against Palestinians or the numbers of dead and wounded.

“The people whose homes are small and with roofs made of tin are now grateful for this blessing, so they can quickly rescue their families from under the rubble without excavation equipment.”

The easiest accusation employed by Israelis against dissenters is of anti-Semitism.The prevailing discourse now is that Israel is fighting to preserve its existence and future, not overstepping Palestinian rights. It is also said that the protests around the world are against Israel, not protests to stop the war and massacres. This accusation is accompanied by a discourse of hatred and racism directed against anyone expressing any humanitarian stance towards Gaza, regardless of race, gender, or religion. Sympathy for the victims and calls to stop the genocide and the killing of around 4,000 Palestinian children lead to Israeli criticism and smear campaigns. These campaigns, along with others, accuse the people of Gaza of being the “criminals” in an unequal war, not to mention the absence of any ethical or legal standards and the interpretation of international humanitarian law according to Israel’s perspective and interests. But the most dangerous is the discourse of Jewish supremacy and racial superiority, openly repeated without fear or consideration.

In the Israeli media, there is an attempt to export hate speech against Arabs and Muslims in a racist manner, accompanied by calls for revenge against all Palestinians, denying them their humanity and justifying all crimes under the pretext of the “right to self-defense.” However, isn’t a media blackout, conveying a single narrative directed by the army, and hiding the truth, a violation of the Israelis’ right to access information?

The most dangerous thing is the pressure on Western media and its subsequent extortion, providing political and diplomatic cover for the violations committed by the Israeli army, as if Western media is directed towards a specific discourse, despite its affiliation to countries and receiving a significant portion of its budget from taxpayers.

What is happening in the streets of Europe and America? 

Last Saturday evening, the official broadcasting authority KAN conducted an interview with Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to Britain, discussing the protests that have taken place in recent weeks in London against the war on Gaza. The host wondered with astonishment how British authorities allow these “anti-Semites who range from Muslims to leftists to protest,” and why decisive measures were not taken to prevent or arrest them, stating that the authorities should take a firm stand against them!

Similarly, on Sunday morning, KAN conducted an interview with former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, who said: “The situation is not in our favor now; protests are sweeping the streets worldwide in Europe and the United States, and everyone is protesting against the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza.” He added that anti-Semitism is increasing in America, and protests are occurring everywhere, not only in the southern states dominated by the Democratic Party but in all American states. “Jewish hatred and anti-Semitism are growing in the world, and the lives of Jews are in danger as if the world has forgotten what happened on October 7.”

The Israeli media is not addressing the humanitarian catastrophe and the lack of fuel: instead, Israeli media and officials boast about their insistence on not allowing the entry of fuel and humanitarian aid, claiming that Palestinians in Gaza do not need them because “they are part of Hamas.”

Concealing The Truth

The Israeli media does not talk about the scarcity of water, food, and medicine for all patients, especially cancer patients who need treatment abroad, as well as those with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart, and hypertension patients, whose medications have run out and who now take alternative or similar medications. 

The situation is becoming more complex and catastrophic, with a near-complete depletion of essential food items. Even coffee is starting to disappear from the stores. This is evident in the exhausted faces of people trying to maintain their resilience with patience, but their depleted abilities affect their capacity to endure.

With the shortage of flour and the disruption of some bakeries, the price of a 25-kilogram bag of flour (if available) has risen to 120 shekels, approximately 30 dollars, compared to 27 shekels before the war. This is accompanied by the inability of bakeries to provide the minimum production and the high demand for bread, which Palestinians rely on for their three main meals.

In the midst of the multi-pronged crises plaguing Gaza, meals usually consist of only two loaves of bread and a cone of red pepper or Gazan dakka , a registered brand made from roasted wheat, sumac, chili pepper, and salt. These ingredients are ground to resemble flour, or a loaf and thyme, but without the olive oil, which was lost during the olive season at the beginning of October, as the olives remained on the trees without anyone picking them. These meals used to provide a hearty meal for both children and adults.

However, all of the above is not available in the shelters where the quantities of bread have decreased, and each person receives only one loaf. From my observations of people in the shelters, signs of hunger and emaciation are beginning to appear among the displaced. The news about the arrival of very limited humanitarian aid is a lie upon a lie, subject to thorough inspection and strict restrictions. UNRWA and international organizations such as the World Food Programme, civil society organizations, and charities are still unable to provide basic needs for the displaced due to Israel’s prevention of aid entry, whether it be to the shelters or to those who sought refuge with relatives and friends.

Amid all the blackout and lies, some phrases escape from some journalists who try to distract from the cloud of hatred and revenge. In an interview with General Giora Eiland, former head of the Israeli National Security Council and one of the architects of the disengagement plan from Gaza, he said, “Hamas has not been broken; it continues to fight, lead, and control. The ground forces are not advancing much, and the situation is tough.” The host commented, “We don’t have much time. The prominent victory was in the Six Day War, and that was a one-time event. In the rest of the wars, we did not win.”

In a Facebook post, the well-known military analyst at Haaretz, Amos Harel, said, “The affirmations about the destruction of Hamas are general statements, and it is difficult to translate them into actions. I have said before that most of what the army says is propaganda, aimed at deceiving the Israeli public. I wrote last month, it is difficult to destroy Hamas without destroying all of Gaza.”