THE advent of Israeli ground forces in southern Gaza marks a new escalation in the war on the Palestinian people declared by the IDF. While the stated war aims of the Israeli government are to destroy Hamas, the sheer scale of civilian casualties — now over 15,000 — along with the displacement of over 1.2 million people, means that this is effectively a war against the whole population in Gaza.

With even the US calling for a more restrained military campaign following the seven-day truce and release of hostages, it is clear that the religious fundamentalists in the Israeli government are off message with their US military paymasters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been categorical in what he sees as the mission of the IDF, stating: “We continue to fight with all our strength until we achieve all our goals; the return of all of our abductees, the elimination of Hamas and the promise that Gaza will never be a threat to Israel again.”