'The silence over the horrific death toll in Gaza speaks volumes about Israel's transformation'
The wall, or barrier, in all its forms, has been inherent to the Zionist project that led to the creation of the state of Israel. Since the October 7, 2023, massacres carried out by Hamas – made possible by the failure of an expensive, electronics-laden security fence built around Gaza – additional walls have been erected.
The effectiveness of these barriers explains why it took 20 months and a provisional death toll of 54,000 – mostly civilians – before criticism of the policies pursued by Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition spread beyond circles sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. It remains to be seen whether this criticism will lead to anything more than a limited easing of the humanitarian blockade imposed by Israel as of March 2, which would amount to a complete failure.
The ban on international media access to Gaza since October 7, coupled with the unprecedented decimation of Palestinian journalists – which has barely moved Western governments allied with Israel – has served as a screen for actions unworthy of a democracy. Despite footage and testimonies provided by Gazans, this access ban partially concealed both the massacres and the systematic destruction of the narrow strip of land, its fields, infrastructure and cities.
The absence of any independent third-party presence has effectively neutralized reality –reducing it to one side's word against the other. The strike that killed 33 people in a former school overnight from Sunday, May 25, to Monday, May 26, in Gaza was one example among dozens. What was at stake? According to the Palestinian side, the building was a makeshift shelter for people displaced by bombings. According to the Israeli side, it was a "Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control center" that was "used by the terrorists to plan and gather intelligence in order to execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops."
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