Parachutes drop supplies into the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, August 12, 2025
Gaza’s collective sumud has proven more powerful than one of the world’s best-equipped militaries, but the change in international attitudes isn’t happening fast enough to save a starving population from Western-backed genocide, argues RAMZY BAROUD
THE consequences of the Israeli genocide in Gaza will be dire. An event of this degree of barbarity, sustained by an international conspiracy of moral inertia and silence, will not be relegated to history as just another “conflict” or a mere tragedy.
The Gaza genocide is a catalyst for major events to come. Israel and its benefactors are acutely aware of this historical reality. This is precisely why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a race against time, desperately trying to ensure his country remains relevant, if not standing, in the coming era. He pursues this through territorial expansion in Syria, relentless aggression against Lebanon and, of course, the desire to annex all occupied Palestinian territories.
But history cannot be controlled with such precision. However clever he may think he is, Netanyahu has already lost the ability to influence the outcome. He has been unable to set a clear agenda in Gaza, let alone achieve any strategic goals in a 365-square-kilometre expanse of destroyed concrete and ashes. Gazans have proven that collective sumud can defeat one of the most well-equipped modern armies.
Indeed, history itself has taught us that changes of great magnitude are inevitable. The true heartbreak is that this change is not happening fast enough to save a starving population, and the growing pro-Palestinian sentiment is not expanding at the rate needed to achieve a decisive political outcome.
…
History does not take its cues from Israel or Western powers. Gaza will indeed result in the kind of global shifts that will affect us all, far beyond the Middle East. For now, however, it is most urgent that we use our collective will and action to influence one single historical event: ending the genocide and the famine in Gaza.
The rest will be left to history, and to those who wish to be relevant when the world changes again.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the editor of the Palestine Chronicle (www.palestinechronicle.com).
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Buenos Aires march on Saturday, August 9. Photo: Argentine Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Protesters on Saturday also denounced the very close relationship between the governments of Milei and Netanyah
On August 9, thousands of Argentines took to the streets of the capital, Buenos Aires, demanding an end to the genocide being committed in Gaza, Palestine Israel. The slogan of the march was “We are all children of Gaza”.
The protesters denounced the indiscriminate attacks and forced starvation that, they claimed, Israeli forces are perpetrating against the civilian population.
The demonstration ended at Plaza de Mayo, where, according to some media outlets, more than 10,000 people demanded an end to the repressive actions in Palestine: “ Gaza is starving, time is up!” and “Palestine will prevail from the river to the sea” were some of the slogans chanted by the protesters as they waved Palestinian flags.
The march brought together human rights organizations, left-wing political parties, and various social movements, which declared that the only solution to any conflict in Palestine is peace, respect for sovereignty, and a dignified life for those who live there.
“We are facing genocide, which is confirmed by Israeli leaders themselves when they openly say that it is lawful to starve and dehydrate the entire population of Gaza, including its children. This genocide must be denounced relentlessly,” said Gabriel Solano, one of the leaders of the Left Front, during the mobilization.
For its part, the Palestinian Embassy in Argentina posted on X: “THANK YOU ARGENTINA, WE WILL NEVER FORGET! An impressive demonstration took place on Saturday, August 9, in Buenos Aires to denounce the genocide being carried out by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people.”
A close relationship between the governments of Argentina and Israel?
The demonstration also criticized the close ties between the Argentine and Israeli governments, which Argentine President Javier Milei (who recently traveled to the occupied Palestinian territories) has never denied. One of the slogans heard at the march was: “Milei, Zionist, you are the terrorist”.
Milei has announced that in 2026, he will relocate the Argentine embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that Palestinians and several governments around the world have heavily criticized. For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that he will soon come to Argentina on an official visit, a move that various Argentine political movements and parties have strongly denounced.
In addition to Buenos Aires, demonstrations against the genocide in Palestine took place in other Argentine cities, such as San Carlos de Bariloche, El Bolsón, Trelew, Comodoro Rivadavia, Ushuaia, Río Grande, San Salvador de Jujuy, Salta, San Miguel de Tucumán, San Juan, La Rioja, Catamarca, Mendoza, Santa Fe, Concepción del Uruguay, Córdoba, Cosquín, Alta Gracia, Villa Dolores, La Plata, Bahía Blanca, Mar del Plata, Neuquén, and Viedma.
Solidarity with Palestine continues to grow
“The last three demonstrations have grown due to the news about the genocide taking place in Gaza,” Gabriela B., an activist with Nuestramérica and member of the Argentine Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, told Peoples Dispatch. For her, there is a significant increase in support for the cause, “If there was ever a belief that people could ignore the situation in Palestine without it affecting their humanity or without their stance being noticed, that idea has been shattered.”
She also pointed out the importance of Israel in Argentina: “In Argentina, the situation is very difficult. As a colleague mentioned, Argentina is considered the capital of Zionism [in Latin America], which means that the mainstream media only broadcasts voices that cover up the genocide. Furthermore, any action or complaint related to Palestine is framed within the concept of anti-Semitism, making solidarity and questioning of the situation even more difficult. The silence is already unsustainable, and Netanyahu’s possible visit, as well as the famine in Gaza, have triggered acts of repudiation. This resulted in posts on the accounts of famous artists during the week and in the large march that took place not only in Buenos Aires but in 30 other locations throughout the country, including cities and provinces.”
Regarding the demands made by the protesters, Gabriela said: “The main demand was a call to stop the genocide and famine, and to reject the possible visit to Argentina by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” Other demands included:
The withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.
Ending diplomatic relations with Israel. Cancelling the Mercosur-Israel agreement (a Free Trade Agreement between Israel and a bloc of South American countries).
Stop the persecution of those who show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
In Argentina, two prominent political figures are currently being persecuted for tweeting about the genocide in Gaza: Vanina Biasi and Alejandro Bodart.
When asked about the criticisms raised during the march against Milei’s close relationship with Netanyahu, Gabriela B. said that in the last month, key political and progressive movements have begun to join the movement in support of Palestine and rejecting Israel’s actions. After Saturday’s march, momentum has continued to build, “various complaints were filed after Saturday by trade unions and human rights organizations, demanding Netanyahu’s arrest if he visits Argentina. The same complaint alleges that Netanyahu committed ‘genocide and war crimes’ against the Palestinians (presented by the secretary general of ATE Buenos Aires, Daniel ‘Tano’ Catalano, and the representative of the H.I.J.O.S. group, Verónica Castelli).”
She added: “However, as far as Milei and the ruling party are concerned, nothing has happened. No media outlet, except for alternative ones, has reported on the large march. The only news that managed to break through the media blockade and name Israel as a murderer was the news of the six journalists who were killed on Sunday. This march has served to denounce the Zionist alliance that the government maintains and to continue raising awareness among our people.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement during the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. [Photo by RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel can bomb Gaza like the Allies bombed Dresden during World War II.
His remarks were made during an interview with right-wing US network Newsmax on Wednesday.
When asked why the Israeli military does not “wipe Hamas and the Gaza Strip” off the map, he replied, “We can bomb them like the Allies [in World War II] bombed Dresden, we could starve them if we followed the vilifications, these false lies that are delivered against Israel, and nobody would be alive already.
He added that the events of 7 October had involved clear failures and intelligence mistakes.
At the beginning of his remarks, Netanyahu said that Israel was engaged in a war on eight fronts, explaining that seven of them were against Iran and its proxies, while the eighth was what he called a “battle for truth.”
He stressed that, in his view, the only way to overcome lies was through truth.
Turning to the war in Gaza, he claimed that the only deliberate starvation taking place there was that of the Israeli hostages.
He argued that this was evident when comparing the frail and tortured condition of the hostages with the well-fed state of their captors.
Netanyahu said the contrast was intended to expose lies and was linked to the “eighth front,” which he described as the fight for truth.
He also stated that Tel Aviv did not pursue a policy of starvation, and that it had adopted — and continued to follow — a policy aimed at separating civilians from fighters on two fronts.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Journalists gather to stage a protest in Ramallah, the West Bank, on August 11, 2025, against the Israeli army’s air strike on a tent reserved for journalists at the entrance to Shifa Hospital in the center of Gaza City, which killed Al Jazeera reporters. The protesters carried photos of their slain colleagues. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]
Even in major democracies, of which Israel considers itself one, governments committing crimes typically try to conceal them from the public eye. They do so out of fear of the backlash, embarrassment, and—above all—accountability. Not so in Israel. In its ongoing war in Gaza, Israel is doing the exact opposite. It is openly defying international law and norms, broadcasting its actions with a public bravado that borders on celebration, even as it commits what many, including some of its allies and international organisations, classify as war crimes and a crimes against humanity. This is not a matter of a few rogue actors; it is a display of institutional and societal pride in a campaign of devastation.
Early in the war, then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant set the tone with a statement that shocked the world’s capitals from Washington to Beijing. Announcing a “complete siege on Gaza,” he stated, “We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly.” This dehumanising language provided a chilling moral license for a campaign of collective punishment, cutting off electricity, food, water, and fuel to over two million people. The sentiment has since been amplified on social media, where Israeli soldiers and citizens have uploaded a steady stream of videos mocking Palestinians, celebrating destruction, and flaunting their disregard for civilian life. These posts—often set to cheerful music—show soldiers gleefully detonating homes, rifling through personal belongings, and dedicating explosions to fallen comrades. The digital footprint of these actions creates a damning dossier of potential crimes, proudly broadcast for all to see.
This perverse sense of entertainment has even bled into the civilian sphere, creating a macabre form of “war tourism.” In towns bordering Gaza, like Sderot, “resilience tours” have emerged, where locals and visitors are given guided tours of communities targeted on 7 October. More disturbingly, viewing platforms have been set up with telescopes, offering a unique and ghoulish experience for a small fee: a chance to watch the destruction unfold in real time on the ground just a few kilometres away. This commodification of suffering is a stark testament to a societal shift, where the violence of war is not a tragedy to be mourned but a spectacle to be consumed.
A fundamental factor enabling this open celebration of violence is the public sentiment in Israel itself. Polls consistently show a nationalistic fervour and widespread support for the war’s military objectives, even at the cost of tens of thousands of Palestinian lives. The primary concern of the Israeli public, as articulated by commentators and political figures, is not a humanitarian crisis in Gaza but the fate of the hostages. According to a July 2025 survey by Israel’s Channel 12, a clear majority of Israelis—74 per cent, including 60 per cent of voters for the governing coalition—are willing to end the war in exchange for the release of all hostages. This desire to bring the captives home has become the most urgent national priority, overshadowing the government’s stated goal of eliminating Hamas. This is not to say that the public is ignorant of the suffering; rather, a majority of Jewish Israelis believe the IDF’s reporting on casualties and think Israel is making substantial efforts to avoid harming Palestinian civilians.
The widely held belief that Israel is a victim fighting for survival allows for a collective moral blindness to the devastation. As prominent Israeli journalist Gideon Levy has repeatedly argued, this war has been marked by a “moral blindness” on the part of the Israeli public. In his view, “a sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby.” Levy’s columns and interviews often describe a society that has become numb to Palestinian suffering, prioritising its own narrative of victimhood and security above all else. This selective empathy, where the pain of Israeli families is paramount and the suffering of Gazan children is an unfortunate and often justified casualty, is a key pillar of the institutional pride that allows these crimes to be so openly broadcast.
The selective empathy of Israeli society is further illuminated by its reaction to the threat of international accountability. When the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes, the response from much of the Israeli public and political establishment was not one of introspection, but of outrage and defiance. Polls from late 2024 showed that the majority of Israelis viewed the ICC’s as a political body not a legal one and its warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, are baseless and an anti-Semitic attack on their country’s right to self-defence, not as a legitimate legal challenge to their leaders’ conduct. A significant portion of the public, which consistently supports the war effort, has been unwilling to accept that the actions of their government or military could be criminal, despite the mounting evidence. This moral blind spot is particularly striking when juxtaposed with the country’s fixation on domestic political scandals.
The domestic and ideological factors enabling Israel’s proud defiance of international law are ultimately underpinned by a fundamental belief: that its actions will never result in meaningful international accountability. This conviction stems from the unwavering political and military protection afforded by major powers, particularly the United States. This protection insulates Israeli leaders from the very real consequences their actions would trigger for other nations. While the United States has vehemently rejected the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, describing them as “outrageous,” a critical shift has occurred among some of Israel’s allies.
Unlike the US which rejects the ICC jurisdiction despite its legal efficacy, many other member states have indicated they would execute the warrants if the Israeli officials enter their territory. This has created a growing chasm in the Western world’s response. Countries such as France and the United Kingdom have stated they will respect the court’s independence and would be compelled to enforce the warrants, as have Belgium and other EU nations. This dynamic places Israel’s leaders in a precarious position, no longer able to travel freely to every allied capital without risk. This reality is a testament to the dangerous turning point in global politics that is now playing out—a state openly defying international law, betting that Western protection will shield it from consequences, even as the global consensus on its actions begins to crack.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025.[Photo by RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]
In a recent interview with i24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated he is “on a mission of generations” for “Greater Israel”. Meanwhile, the international community is still bleating about the two-state paradigm. The Arab League spoke out against Israel’s “aggressive and expansionist tendencies”. But in the midst of all this, who is listening to the Palestinian people?
The concept of “Greater Israel” is not a novelty. Early Zionist ideology, even before the atrocities of the 1948 Nakba, already envisaged a complete colonial process. Netanyahu is just availing himself of the opportune moment to remind the entire world what Zionist colonisation is all about, but this statement cannot be treated as a surprise.
It was the international community that decided upon the 1947 Partition Plan, despite the concept of “Greater Israel”. The same international community legitimised the Nakba’s colonial atrocities by recognising Israel – a settler-colonial enterprise on ethnically cleansed Palestinian land. It ensured the Palestinian right of return would be flawed to give priority to Israel’s expansion plans, and coerced Palestinians into the humanitarian paradigm – recipients of aid with no rights.
Israel may have carefully crafted its narrative, but it also exposed its intentions along the way. The international community has no excuse. During the same time the two-state paradigm was deemed obsolete, Netanyahu was boasting about how Palestine was no longer a priority in diplomatic relations and no longer a precondition that would jeopardise normalising relations with Israel. This is relatively recent history. Had the international community really wanted to eradicate colonialism, it could have taken action before 1947. But former colonial powers invested in a new colonial power that has now been committing genocide for almost two years, under the pretext of eliminating Hamas. And while Netanyahu feels he can unveil the entire truth about Israel and its genocide, the international community is still focused only on humanitarian aid and the two-state compromise – none of which ultimately give Palestinians political rights.
Can the international community admit all its complicity with Israeli settler-colonialism, expansion and genocide since the time it started to indulge the Zionist colonial ideology? How about admitting that the humanitarian paradigm has aided Israel more than it helped Palestinians? Or that the two-state compromise was a stepping stone for Israel to unleash genocide in Gaza and eventually declare “Greater Israel”?
The international community only ever took on board what aided its diplomatic engagement with Israel; hence the focus on Hamas, humanitarian aid, the two-state paradigm and forced displacement. Keeping all these slivers isolated enabled Israel to gradually prepare for prominent announcements of its ultimate colonisation plans. “Greater Israel” requires ethnic cleansing on a larger scale. Genocide fulfils that prerequisite. The international community is concerned about Palestinians starving to death but not Palestinians torn to shreds and blasted apart by bombs. The international community chooses which part of genocide to weakly condemn, just as it chose which parts of settler-colonialism to speak out against without any repercussions. Feigning ignorance now is just adding to the hypocrisy.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Parachutes drop supplies into the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, August 12, 2025
