The question is not simply how much we spend on defence, but what we understand defence and security to mean, says SIMON BRIGNELL
PROMISES of “absolute victory” in Gaza are nothing but “gibberish,” according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant’s comments were not meant to be public, but somehow were leaked and published by Israeli media on August 12.
The explanation of why Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a losing war in Gaza has been largely confined to the prime minister’s personal interests: avoiding the outcome of his corruption trials, preserving his extremist government coalition and avoiding early elections.
Still, none of these rationales explain the absurdity of continuing with a war which, in the words of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, is “the worst failure in Israel’s history.”
Given the recent rejection of peace proposals by Israel the world must provide an immediate and resolute response to force accountability on Gaza, argues RAMZY BAROUD
Bezalel Smotrich’s measures to extend Israeli property law into the West Bank are a continuation of a decades-long project to dispossess Palestinians and preclude statehood, argues HUGH LANNING
RAMZY BAROUD looks at how entire West Bank communities have been shattered, their social and physical fabric deliberately dismantled by Israel to enable its formal annexation



