A Reckoning With Civilization Itself: How the Genocide in Gaza Reshaped the Middle East
I have covered many wars in the past but nothing—absolutely nothing—prepared me for the brutality, cruelty, and the sheer savagery of Israel’s war in Gaza. I wasn’t alone.
The article describes the extreme violence of Israel's war in Gaza, which began after Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023. Reporters with decades of experience in conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine, stated they had never witnessed such destruction. Within two months, the war caused more damage than the razing of Aleppo in Syria or Mariupol in Ukraine. By March 2024, it had killed more civilians than the US-led campaign against the Islamic State. The conflict became known as the deadliest for children in modern times, with journalists, doctors, and humanitarian workers specifically targeted. A Brown University report found that more journalists were killed in Gaza than in all major 20th-century wars combined, including World War II and the Vietnam War.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Israel's actions in Gaza to Operation Carthage, a 1945 British air raid in Copenhagen that accidentally killed 86 children while targeting Nazi intelligence. Netanyahu argued these civilian deaths were tragic but not war crimes. The article criticizes this comparison, stating it equates Gaza—a densely populated refugee camp with 2 million people—to Nazi Germany, calling the analogy grotesque. The war also echoed the Nakba of 1948, when Palestinians were displaced from their homes, but this time using modern technology like drones and satellites. Israeli soldiers filmed themselves committing acts of violence, including looting, destruction, and killing civilians, broadcasting these actions unashamedly.
Israeli media played a central role in the war by amplifying hate speech rather than reporting on civilian casualties. News anchors, generals, and celebrities openly called for violence, with phrases like 'Kill them all' and 'Nuke them' becoming common. A government minister suggested using a nuclear bomb on Gaza, while a former parliament member stated, 'Every child in Gaza is the enemy.' A pop star demanded Gaza be 'erased completely.' This dehumanization was described as racist propaganda, with Israeli media acting as a tool to justify the war. The article highlights that freedom of expression in Israel shifted from democratic values to inciting vengeance.
By March 2024, after six months of war, Gaza faced unprecedented destruction. Over 90% of its 2 million people were displaced, and 92% of homes were damaged or destroyed. Entire neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and refugee camps were flattened. The health system collapsed, with Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, besieged and bombed under false pretenses, leading to hundreds of deaths. Medical staff operated without electricity, anesthesia, or sterilization, and patients died untreated. The war also targeted food sources, water supplies, and farmland, causing catastrophic hunger. By this time, over a million people faced famine conditions, with children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.
International law failed to stop the devastation in Gaza. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel's actions could plausibly constitute genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention and ordered provisional measures, including halting genocidal actions and allowing humanitarian aid. However, Israel ignored these orders. A UN Commission of Inquiry found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including weaponizing hunger, targeting civilians, and forced displacement. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for using starvation as a weapon of war. The US responded by imposing sanctions on ICC prosecutors instead of addressing Israel's actions.
The US, despite being Israel's strongest ally, failed to pressure Netanyahu to allow aid into Gaza. In March 2024, President Joe Biden announced a $300 million offshore aid pier to deliver supplies from Cyprus, but it operated poorly for just 20 days before being retired. This initiative was criticized as a wasteful failure. Biden also proposed a Day After peace plan offering Saudi Arabia normalization with Israel in exchange for a vague pathway to Palestinian statehood, but Netanyahu rejected it. Instead, Netanyahu insisted on a prolonged war to eliminate Hamas and make Gaza uninhabitable. By summer 2025, over 60,000 Palestinians had been killed, with 40% more deaths estimated by The Lancet. The UN reported at least 100 children were killed or injured daily after strikes resumed.
In February 2025, Israel banned the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) from distributing aid, leading to the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed nonprofit run by entrepreneurs, mercenaries, and evangelicals. The GHF took over food distribution but became notorious for shooting at starving children desperate for food. Thousands more children died from starvation as a result. Netanyahu publicly stated the goal was to make Gaza uninhabitable, forcing Palestinians to emigrate. By May 2025, he claimed the 'main problem' preventing emigration was the refusal of other countries to accept Palestinians. The relentless bombing continued, with a temporary ceasefire finally agreed in spring 2025 but quickly broken by Israel.
The article highlights Netanyahu's alleged manipulation of the war for political survival. In July 2025, *The New York Times* reported that Netanyahu prolonged the war to stay in power, prioritizing his political career over ending the conflict. The war's brutality peaked in summer 2025, with Israel resuming bombing even after Gaza was reduced to ruins. The *Lancet* study estimated the death toll could be 40% higher than official figures, and Israeli military data showed at least 83% of Palestinian casualties were civilians. The conflict entered a surreal phase where aid distribution itself became a tool of violence, with children shot while seeking food. The article concludes that the world watched the destruction but largely turned away, abandoning Gaza to its fate.
