It is, at this point, undeniable. Israel is carrying out a war against a people in Gaza and the West Bank. In Gaza they have blocked aid to the civilian population, which is a war crime. [1] Amnesty says:
Harrowing new testimonies gathered by Amnesty International throughout April reveal the catastrophic human cost of Israel’s two-month-long total siege, where starvation and denial of life-saving essentials are being used as weapons of war in flagrant violation of international law [2]
I’m quoting the world’s two leading Human Rights NGOs, but such statements are also being made almost daily by various UN officials, albeit using the diplomatic language that their roles demand.
In the West Bank, the reports of violent settlers, backed by the police and army, harassing and attacking resident Palestinians are reaching new heights. [3]
Meanwhile, the UK has joined the US in bombing Yemen. [4] Yemen is, last time I checked, not attacking the UK. I don’t know if any vote was held in parliament about entering a new war. Apparently, it is not required. [5]. But, in any event, it shows who the real master is in the UK; the US.
I would prefer it if the UK government tried to stop the genocide; at the least stopping the transfer of all UK arms to Israel. Maybe even condemning it. (Condemning means going further than being “concerned”).
I have seen a lot in my lifetime, of wars and viciousness * around the world. But I did not think I would see a blatant genocide, including the deliberate denial of food and medicine to children, carried out in plain sight with the effective approval of my government.
* (For clarity. Hamas’ operation on 7 October 2023 certainly displayed a lot of viciousness. But we note that many of the victims were soldiers, approximately 1/3 of the total deaths, engaged in suppressing the Palestinian people, and some of the reported civilian casualties will have been armed settlers. 29 children were killed. That is 29 too many. [6] As a further aside; the Guardian, always refers to the attack which “killed about 1200 people, mostly civilians” – a straightforward piece of misinformation, since most people would regard “mostly” as a much greater fraction than the actual 2/3’s. So far, in revenge, Israel has killed well over 13,000 children in Gaza. [7] Right now it is deliberately starving them. Anyway; the UK government can find it in itself to condemn Hamas, but is no more then “concerned” about Israel. A striking contrast.)
Update – a strategy for genocide
The IDF openly trolls anyone questioning the genocide. For example:
Asked to comment on the strikes, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said the military “takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm”. [8]
“feasible”. Well; you can’t kill people affiliated with Hamas, (assuming that the targets are even valid in the first place), in a built-up area without causing mass civilian casualties.
The current aim is to kill everyone associated with Hamas in Gaza. This is not just fighters, but people in civilian and administrative positions. Medical staff with Hamas links are also targeted. This is wholly impractical. It is not feasible. It is not feasible for two reasons; i) more members keep joining and ii) Hamas members are distributed amongst the population, (they aren’t going to line up on the Gaza City beach to be mowed down by a US supplied helicopter gunship, obviously), so the IDF will have to keep dropping bombs all over Gaza killing, maybe, one or two at a time.
The not feasible nature of the operation is the strategy. Given i) and ii) above this means they can keep bombing Gaza without cessation until they have killed all Gazans. Basically, “feasible precautions” = genocide. The same strategy is evident with blocking all food aid. The claim is that Hamas siphons it off and they have to block it to prevent any reaching Hamas. (I have seen one Israeli Minister openly say that the further aim is to pressure the population to reject Hamas). But, a similar logic applies. That may well be true; but since Hamas is an armed entity they will be the last to go without. To starve out Hamas will involve absolutely starving every single Palestinian. Whether they say it or not, and sometimes they do, even openly, the Netanyahu strategy for Gaza is genocide.
Notes
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/5/2/live-israel-kills-at-least-31-in-gaza-as-aid-blockade-starves-children
- http://www.btselem.org/publications/202309_the_pogroms_are_working_the_transfer_is_already_happening (from 2023 I think; it has been getting much worse since then according to Al Jazeera)
- https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-us-uk-airstrikes-israel-hamas-war-9ab021aac8f01694fa98619e3ffe92ba
- https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9934/
- https://aoav.org.uk/2023/an-analysis-of-the-7th-of-october-2023-casualties-in-israel-as-a-result-of-the-hamas-attack/ This is a reliable NGO and the figure corresponds with other reports I have seen.
- https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2024-11/gaza-war-deaths-exceed-44-thousand-over-13-thousand-children.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/03/israeli-airstrikes-gaza-death-toll-bureij-beit-lahiya-khan-younis