As President Trump expresses optimism that Israel and Hamas could agree to a 60-day pause in fighting soon, the Israeli Defense Forces have intensified their slaughter campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Al-Shifa hospital was overwhelmed with a new round of dead bodies and injured civilians following an Israeli airstrike on a nearby school sheltering displaced Palestinians last Thursday. Apparently, there’s nothing spookier than a tent encampment sheltering displaced civilians, because they Israelis sure do bomb them often.
I know, something, something, Hamas, human shields, command center, tunnels, Hamas…etc. No one believes this any of this nonsense. Gaza is leveled. Most of the deceased are women and children. Get a grip.
Then there’s the Israeli-approved/U.S.-sponsored Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which was supposed to distribute food to starving Palestinians who had just suffered Israel’s three-month blockade of aid into the territory. The IDF has continued shooting at or bombing civilians as they wait in line for food.
At least 138 Palestinians have been killed and more than 400 injured on Thursday and Friday, according to Gaza health officials. More than 60 of those killed and hundreds of the injured were waiting for aid.
Roughly 600 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for food. Killing Palestinians at aid centers is not a bug, but a feature of the of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to an explosive Haartez report, which stated that “IDF officers and soldiers [said] they were ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites in Gaza, even when no threat was present.”
The piece shared horrific testimony from IDF soldiers:
"It's a killing field," one soldier said. "Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire."
The soldier added, "We open fire early in the morning if someone tries to get in line from a few hundred meters away, and sometimes we just charge at them from close range. But there's no danger to the forces." According to him, "I'm not aware of a single instance of return fire. There's no enemy, no weapons." He also said the activity in his area of service is referred to as Operation Salted Fish – the name of the Israeli version of the children's game "Red light, green light".
If you have enough of a conscience to wonder when all this depravity will finally end, Trump alleges that Israel has accepted the framework of a ceasefire deal and the ball is now in Hamas’ court. We’ve been here before and Trump’s claims aren’t exactly true.
Israel has agreed to the requirements of a 60-day pause in fighting so they can get their hostages back. But they refuse to accept a permanent end to the war, something Hamas insists on. Hamas has even agreed to relinquish power in Gaza in return for a permanent ceasefire. They will agree give up their arms upon the formation of a Palestinian state. But we Israel will never tolerate Palestinians having a shot at self-determination.
For those who sympathize with the the Israeli government and feel I’m being too harsh, I commend you for getting this far in reading what I have to say. But I’m just getting started.
