Netanyahu resumes massacre of children, women in Gaza with Trump's green light

By Iqbal Jassat

The sheer intensity of missile strikes and deadly bombings across the besieged Gaza Strip not only marked the settler-colonial regime’s continuation of the genocide of Palestinians but also a decisive rejection of the ceasefire it had agreed to.

The child-murdering regime’s criminal leadership—particularly Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on the International Criminal Court’s wanted list—has sought every pretext under the sun to resume massacring innocent civilians in Gaza.

Despite the so-called "lull" during the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel had been itching to shed more Palestinian blood, adding to the tens of thousands of martyrs since October 7, 2023.

Overnight, while displaced Palestinians—subjected to the Zionist regime’s inhumane blockade of food, fuel, medication, and other essentials—were preparing Suhoor meals in makeshift plastic tents and bombed-out buildings during Ramadan, Netanyahu unleashed another wave of terror upon them.

Within minutes, more than 400 civilians were killed, mainly women and children. Over a thousand more were injured, with no means for medical treatment.

Reports indicate that the current military strikes are deadlier and broader in scale than the ongoing drone attacks Gaza has suffered while Netanyahu repeatedly violated the original ceasefire terms.

In response to this aggression, the Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas condemned Israel for disregarding its obligations and overturning the truce agreement.

Israel, which has repeatedly violated the ceasefire that took effect on January 19, sought to fabricate new terms to justify blowing up the deal entirely.

Journalists Jeremy Scahill of Drop News and Abubaker Abed of Press TV noted that since January, Netanyahu had waged a campaign of sabotage and provocation, openly violating the agreement by obstructing and outright blocking aid deliveries into the Strip.

Although food and other supplies were permitted during the first 42-day phase of the deal, Israel refused to allow nearly all 60,000 mobile homes and admitted only a fraction of the 200,000 tents into Gaza.

While Netanyahu has attempted to blame Hamas with fabricated charges of undermining the ceasefire, the reality is that Israel imposed a "total blockade on any aid, including food and medical supplies to the Strip and resumed its policy of using starvation as a weapon of war."

On Sunday, Israel also cut off Gaza’s electricity supply, forcing a major desalination plant to drastically reduce water output, severely limiting drinking water for 600,000 people in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

Hamas has remained committed to the agreement and was eager to maintain it, "but Netanyahu, looking for a way out of his internal crises, preferred to reignite the war at the expense of the blood of our people," Hamas stated.

According to Haaretz, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani demanded immediate international action to force Israel to implement a ceasefire, abide by the agreement, and return to negotiations.

That a key mediator is directing demands solely at Israel confirms that, contrary to Netanyahu’s claims, Hamas has not violated the agreement—the other side has.

This is further reinforced by media reports that families of Israeli captives in Gaza have denounced their own regime, not Hamas.

Indeed, Netanyahu’s right-wing terror-thugs, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, not only welcomed the renewal of scorched-earth policies but gleefully admitted the plans were prepared weeks ago. Ben-Gvir is now set to rejoin the cabinet.

Their excitement over the slaughter of innocent mothers and babies reveals more than mere approval. It confirms that Israel never intended to honor the agreement and deliberately plotted to blame Hamas as a pretext for ongoing savagery in Gaza.

Since the ceasefire began 60 days ago, the Palestinian resistance and rights organizations have meticulously tracked Israel’s repeated violations, as reported by the Palestinian Prisoner Network, Samidoun.

"At the same time, in order to protect their people, the Resistance has not once violated the ceasefire agreements nor retaliated against the Zionist war criminals."

Izzat al-Risheq, a founding member of Hamas’s political bureau, reacted, stating the enemy "will not achieve through war and destruction what it has failed to achieve through negotiations."

Trump’s greenlighting of Israel’s bloodbath makes him directly culpable for a series of war crimes, including genocide and ethnic cleansing.

By facilitating the wave of airstrikes, arming, and funding Israel—just like his predecessor Joe Biden—Trump has once again proven that he is indeed a warmonger.

Israeli activist Alon Mizrahi captured the devastation of this renewed genocide, immediately followed by harrowing images, as a tsunami of shock, disbelief, and pain. He put it in these words:

"Let’s allow these feelings to crystallize into even stronger resolution and conviction."

Iqbal Jassat is an executive member of Media Review Network, Johannesburg, South Africa.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)

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