THERE has been a variety of shocking videos and images emerging from Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, courtesy the former’s resort to barbaric methods in order to wipe out the population of the beleaguered Strip. The images of children’s bodies, or those of grievously wounded minors, are most disturbing, and are enough to debunk Israel’s fiction that it is acting in ‘self-defence’. Israel is indulging in slaughter, pure and simple, no matter what its apologists in important Western capitals might say. Now, a set of recent videos and images illustrate in appalling fashion the extent to which Tel Aviv is willing to go to dehumanise the Palestinian people, and take away their dignity. These images show up to 100 Palestinian detainees stripped to their undergarments, blindfolded and made to kneel on the ground as Israeli soldiers watch over them. Initially, there were some questions about the authenticity of these images. But the fact that they were broadcast on Israeli TV, and that Tel Aviv’s war machine did not deny they were responsible for this outrage, puts these questions to rest. The footage and pictures resemble the disturbing images of Europe’s Jews rounded up in Nazi death camps during World War 2, adding credence to the comparison between modern Israel and the Third Reich. It is ironic that the Israelis are replicating the same chilling methods on defenceless Palestinians that their forefathers faced at the hands of Nazi Germany.

The standard Israeli response is that they routinely round up Palestinians to ensure there are no Hamas operatives amongst them. Family members of many of the men seen in the videos deny any links to Hamas, with journalists, students and traders amongst the detainees. In reaction to these atrocious images, the Red Cross has emphasised the need to treat all detainees “with humanity and dignity”. But to Israel, “humanity and dignity” do not apply to Palestinians. And why should they, when the world’s most powerful state stands like a rock to protect Israel from all censure? The US, again, blocked calls for a ceasefire in the Security Council, perhaps because 17,000 dead Palestinians, including 7,000 children, are not enough to satiate Israel’s endless bloodlust. Many years from now, historians will remember the world’s criminal silence as Palestinian children were exterminated, starved and bombed ‘into the Stone Age.’

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2023