Israel’s indiscriminate, disproportionate retaliation cannot be explained away by the gravity of the attack of Oct. 7

Israeli leaders and their supporters among Western leaders justify the atrocities which the people of Gaza have endured for more than 200 days by arguing that Israeli leaders were provoked by the “brutal Hamas attack on Oct. 7.” It is a common refrain when describing the horror of daily killings and destruction to explain that the war on Gaza is an unavoidable retaliation against “brutal Hamas attack on Oct. 7.” 

First, even that narrative should be exhausted at this point given that Israel has killed more than 12 Palestinian children for every Israeli person who died on Oct. 7--or the killing of 29 Palestinians for the death of every 1 Israeli--excluding people still buried under the rubble and the injured; and destroyed 75% of the homes of Gazans.

Second, Israel has retaliated with the same ferociousness to every new cycle of violence. When Hamas launched a rocket attack in retaliation for the attacks on the Aqsa mosque in 2021, Israel launched an equally devastating bombardment. After 11 days of fire exchange, Israel ended up killing 319 Palestinians, while Hamas’ rockets resulted in the deaths of 12 Israelis—still a ratio of 26 Palestinians for every 1 Israeli death.

The media reporting on the 2021 war on Gaza, from the images alone, is almost indistinguishable from the events of the last 200 days of war.

Israel's Bombing of Gaza, May 2021: