A month has passed since the short-lived ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came to a violent end on 18 March. Since then, Benjamin Netanyahu has once again upped the ante in his genocidal war on Gaza.
The past 30 days have seen the intensity of Israel’s attacks reach levels “only really compared to the first weeks of October 2023,” according to the director of the aerial warfare monitoring group Airwars. More than 1,600 people have been killed and 4,300 wounded in this period alone, which also included the single bloodiest day since late 2023. Meanwhile, western governments and politicians have remained silent.
Netanyahu has exploited the turmoil of Trump’s third month in office to his advantage, not only resuming Israel’s reckless bombing campaign but also launching new ground operations, particularly in southern Gaza.
Declaring that Israel is “switching gears,” Netanyahu ordered the IDF to establish the so-called Morag Corridor, cutting off Rafah from Khan Younis and internally displacing thousands of Palestinians once again. This 12-kilometre stretch of land bisects Gaza from east to west — a “second Philadelphi,” in Netanyahu’s words — and includes large swaths of agricultural land as well as areas previously designated as “humanitarian zones”. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has warned that “IDF activity will soon expand vigorously to additional locations throughout most of Gaza.”
In Rafah, which constitutes nearly one-fifth of Gaza, more than 90 percent of residential neighbourhoods — over 50,000 housing units — have been destroyed. Twenty-two of the city’s 24 water wells are now non-functional, over 85 percent of the sewage network has been destroyed, and 320 kilometres of streets have been bulldozed.
The entire population of Gaza is trapped in a never-ending nightmare, which is now worsening even further. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities.”
With Israel enforcing a total blockade of the strip for nearly eight weeks, aid has practically dried up. All UN-supported bakeries have closed, markets are out of most vegetables, and hospitals are rationing painkillers and antibiotics. Essentials like water and fuel are also in critically short supply.
Medics murdered
Since Netanyahu broke the ceasefire, life in Gaza has become increasingly lethal, especially for emergency workers and medics. On 24 March, the IDF carried out one of its most brazen attacks, targeting a group of Red Crescent and UN medics who were travelling in clearly marked ambulances to recover the bodies of two other paramedics(!) who had been killed by Israeli forces.
Within a short space of time, 15 medics and emergency workers were murdered in cold blood and dumped — along with their vehicles — into a bulldozed mass grave. Most of the bodies were only recovered a week later, when another group of aid workers finally gained access to the site, which had been blocked by the IDF.
While Israel’s killing of medics and hospital workers is nothing new, this attack has exposed the blatant impunity behind the IDF’s modus operandi. The IDF’s initial explanation when the mass grave was discovered was that the medics’ vehicles had been “advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals.”
However, video footage recovered by the Red Crescent from one of the victims’ bodies debunked this claim. The footage shows the convoy driving at night with headlights and flashing emergency lights, with at least one medic wearing a high-vis jacket and medical insignia clearly displayed on the vehicles. Alongside fabricated allegations of ‘Hamas affiliation’ — a claim the IDF perpetually uses to justify civilian killings — the Israeli state clearly attempted to whitewash this massacre, shutting the door on any investigation.
But the lies don’t stop there. Analysis of the video also contradicts the IDF’s claim that the shooting occurred “from afar.” A spectrogram analysis by military experts determined that the gunfire originated between 43 and 12 meters away — close range in military terms. Over 100 gunshots can be heard in the recovered footage.
Furthermore, many of the bodies in the mass grave had their hands or feet tied, suggesting they were executed after being detained. Forensic examinations revealed that five victims had been shot execution-style at point-blank range. One forensic examiner stated: “The bullets were aimed at one person’s head, another at their heart, and a third had six or seven bullets in the torso.”
The unit responsible for the massacre was later identified as the Golani Brigade, commanded by Yehuda Vach, who was quoted by Haaretz telling his troops: “There are no innocents in Gaza.” In a video aired on Israeli TV, a commander briefed Golani soldiers before redeployment to Gaza, instructing them: “Anyone you encounter there is an enemy. You identify anyone, you eliminate him.” Unit 504, a military intelligence team notorious for extreme cruelty, including torture, was also reportedly present during the attack.
The 15 murdered medics now join the staggering toll of at least 1,060 healthcare workers and 399 aid workers killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war.
European Hypocrisy
While Israel ramps up its genocide, European leaders continue their conspiracy of silence and complicity. Though occasionally forced to chide Israel over “humanitarian concerns,” these hypocrites keep arming the Israeli war machine with the very weapons and intelligence used to ethnically cleanse Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Trump has made clear his support for Israel’s goal of a new Nakba in Gaza. While many European leaders initially voiced indignation at his unabashedly genocidal plan, they cannot claim any moral high ground. At the end of the day, they too support the Zionist regime just like the American imperialists, parroting Netanyahu’s false pretext that Israel is acting in ‘self-defence’. As such, the European leaders are also defending their own imperialist interests, albeit in a more cynical and two-faced way.
Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. Where are their emergency summits in response to blatant war crimes, like the killing of Red Crescent medics or the bombing of Gaza’s last fully functioning hospital just last week? While hiding behind the facade of ‘international law’ and the ‘rules-based order,’ their actions prove they couldn’t care less for these niceties in reality.
Take Germany’s government, which condemned Israel’s killing of the 15 medics and called for a “comprehensive investigation” — only to later reassure its Zionist allies that “Germany stands by Israel” in an official statement. Netanyahu, Olaf Scholz, and soon-to-be chancellor Friedrich Merz know that any ‘threats’ to Europe’s unwavering support for Israel are empty gestures, meant only to maintain a democratic facade.
But this is becoming increasingly difficult, as the German government has banned pro-Palestine protests, criminalised free speech, and has begun proceedings to deport individuals for their pro-Palestine views. Thus, the ‘rule of law’ that these liberal leaders sing the praises of is being subordinated to their imperialist interests, which ultimately matter far more to them than democratic principles.
This is evident in the case of the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, which has become a headache for Israel’s European allies. German officials have stated they will not comply, with Friedrich Merz declaring that Netanyahu would be protected from prosecution in Germany. Scholz echoed this, saying he “cannot imagine” Netanyahu being arrested on German soil.
Emmanuel Macron of France has likewise backtracked. After initially pledging to act “in line with the ICC’s statutes” and “rigorously” respecting obligations under international law, he now claims Netanyahu enjoys “immunity.” This was demonstrated on 6 April, when Netanyahu’s flight from Hungary to the US took a detour over France, avoiding airspace where the arrest warrant might have been enforced, with Macron ensuring safe passage for his Israeli ally.
Macron’s recent statement that France will “move to” recognise Palestinian statehood is the height of cynicism. What good is this when France continues to arm Israel, which kills hundreds of Palestinians weekly? In reality, this is nothing more than an attempt to whitewash Europe’s imperialist complicity in Israel’s oppression and extermination of the Palestinian people.
Fuel on the fire
The resumption of war in Gaza is going to inflame anger towards the ruling classes in both the West and the Middle East, who continue to look the other way as thousands of Palestinians are killed, maimed, and starved. They hoped for a permanent ceasefire to settle the situation — but as we’ve explained, Netanyahu never wanted peace. And, as before, the western imperialists have ultimately lined up behind Israel, their one reliable ally in the region.
Among workers and youth worldwide, the illusion of ‘peace on imperialist terms’ has been shattered. With each passing day, western leaders prove themselves to be complacent backers of Israel’s unbounded violence — not just in Gaza, but also in the escalating settler attacks in the West Bank and the military expansions into Lebanon and Syria.
Recently, cities, towns, and refugee camps across the occupied West Bank went on strike in solidarity with Gaza, bringing society to a standstill. The rage and determination of the Palestinian and Arab masses are undeniable — and will only grow as neighbouring regimes continue to do good business with Israel while at best standing idly by or actively collaborating with Netanyahu as he escalates the war. At some point, tensions could snap, potentially sparking a new wave of Arab revolutions.
The realisation that a “ceasefire” is insufficient has dispersed pacifist illusions and is radicalising many millions of young people and workers all around the world, who are increasingly linking the struggle for Palestinian liberation with the struggle against their own ruling class and against the many other horrors that capitalism produces at home and abroad.
Only the downfall of the ruling classes responsible for this genocide — the imperialists, the Zionist regime, and their accomplices across the Middle East — can truly free Palestine and end the horrors wrought by capitalism.
