Gaza assault is no less than state terror

Level of violence inflicted on largely unarmed civilians living in desperate situations is unprecedented

One can only assume by the latest attacks on the Gaza Strip that the occupation administration in Israel now believes that it is “open season” on every Palestinian living in the densely populated and largely undefended civilian enclave — and there is no other reasonable or rationale conclusion from its actions in unleashing its military might early on Thursday morning. Then, a pregnant mother and her infant were among three Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli military aggression that targeted 140 points across Gaza, while some rockets fired at Israel were intercepted by its air defence systems.

Since March, at least 163 Palestinians have been murdered by occupation forces across Gaza — a strip of land that has been reduced to bare rubble and near-primitive living conditions by three separate full-scale Israeli invasions since 2008.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seemingly intent, too, on eradicating every vestige of Palestinian activity from that enclave, has given his forces carte blanche, and will only rest easy once Hamas too is eradicated. Netanyahu’s Zionist arrogance and unfettered hubris have erased any minor moral compunction that may have erstwhile existed in now murdering Palestinians at will.

The latest murderous outburst comes as representatives of the government of Egypt have spent the past month trying to secure the safety of all in the Gaza Strip by attempting to engage the occupation administration to end its aggression and to engage in constructive dialogue. Progress, unfortunately, has been slow — Israel prefers to shoot first rather than talk, as the death toll of those martyred Palestinians so sadly attests.

The reality is that Egypt has no option but to continue its appreciated efforts, given that Hamas now is in a weakened position and has proven itself to be largely unable to either administer the Gaza Strip or protect those who live there from a determined campaign of aggression from the occupation administration.

Over the past four months, the level of violence inflicted on largely unarmed civilians living in desperate and unimaginable circumstances has been unprecedented. Nowhere else on this planet, in places of conflict and in areas of warfare, has the use of military force been so one-sided.

By virtue of where they were born, where they are corralled and from where they cannot flee, every Palestinian in Gaza is adjudged now by the Israeli government as carrying a death sentence. And few, too, beyond the borders of Palestine are willing to act or end this state-sanctioned atrocity by attrition.