Overnight, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered one million Palestinians in the north of Gaza to immediately evacuate, announcing a policy of mass displacement and likely gearing up for a ground invasion that would inevitably massacre more civilians. Israeli forces continue to bombard Gaza with air strikes that have killed at least 1,800 (including almost 600 children), wounded more than 7,000, and displaced around half a million Palestinians amid widespread accusations of war crimes.

In what amounts to collective punishment against Palestinian civilians for the horrific October 7 attacks, Israel has imposed a total siege on Gaza, blocking humanitarian aid and starving the strip of food, water, energy, and medicine. For seven days, amid mounting fears of ethnic cleansing, Israel has bombarded civilian areas, massacring entire families and razing whole neighborhoods, including the relentless bombing of schools, hospitals, and mosques. Israel’s military experts boast that Israel has dropped more bombs in six days than the United States dropped in Afghanistan in a year.

Exterminationist rhetoric is pouring from the upper echelons of the Israeli government. IDF chief Herzi Halevi warned that “Gaza will never look the same again.” Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said, “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”