US Support Has Assured Israel That It Can Kill With Impunity
When Israel began its war on Gaza, it initially felt pressure to deny responsibility for attacks on hospitals and refugee camps. A year of unflinching support from the US has convinced Benjamin Netanyahu that he no longer has any such need to pretend.
The only survivor of his family killed in an Israeli air strike in the Jabalia refugee camp, a Gazan boy mourns near the bodies of his relatives on October 12, 2024. (Omar al-Qatta / AFP via Getty Images)
Eleven days ago, Israel began a bombing campaign targeting the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, which has been home to over one hundred thousand Palestinians. Footage that Israeli soldiers — seemingly proud of the destruction they have wrought — have shared online shows the scale of the horror, which has claimed the lives of over three hundred Gazans.
Bodies remain on the streets and Israel’s bombardment of every hospital in Gaza has left the wounded with little chance of survival. Palestinians who have survived the onslaught are being forcibly displaced; starvation and diseases, caused by Israel’s refusal to allow aid to enter the area since October 1, have become rampant.
For two weeks, Israel has effectively besieged northern Gaza, sealing it from Gaza City with a land, sea, and air blockade while Israel Defense Forces (IDF) armored vehicles, loaded with tons of explosives, have detonated entire homes and buildings where defenseless civilians are taking shelter.
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