One of the many children hospitalized from July’s attacks

Gazan boy hit by Israeli strikes going to the hospital on July 20

Recent Israeli air strikes on Gaza have targeted 70 sites, including hospitals, a football stadium, forty mosques, and civilian apartment buildings. These attacks on innocent men, women and children do not protect Israelis, and in fact, they put them in more danger, and they are war crimes. When innocent civilian populations are targeted, there is always resistance. More fire doesn’t put out fire. It feeds it.

Despite their soft calls for a cease fire, Kerry and Obama have repeated in recent days that Israel has “the right to defend itself” from missile attacks, but it does that very effectively most of the time with its Iron Dome missile launchers that take down most rockets shot by Hamas. The Iron Dome is actually just one of the weapons of the Israeli Air Defense Command. The arrow missile, the MIM-23 Hawk, and the MIM-104 Patriot are others. Israel also has an incredibly well-equipped and well-funded Air Force. But this isn’t about defense. Israel has been stealing more and more Palestinian land since its inception and it is committing genocide and apartheid. It is Palestine that has the right to defend itself. The IDF is far better equipped than Hamas mostly due to the billions of dollars in US funding and arms shipments. Netanyahu does not care about the casualties. If he did care, he would deploy only ground troops to detain or deter militants, instead of continuing policies of racial discrimination, displacement, humiliation, and indiscriminate violence against Palestinian civilians.

Israeli tank firing into Gaza on July 21st

Kerry announced the US would give $47 million to residents fleeing Gaza yesterday. This isn’t charity or even reparations. It’s a financial incentive to leave, which is the ultimate goal. Both US and Israeli politicians seek the complete displacement of all Palestinians so that Israel can colonize the rest of Palestine. Fierce resistance is needed to stop this.