- Israel now controls 40 percent of Gaza City and plans to demolish it entirely, forcing more than 1 million Palestinians to flee or face death.
- More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past 20 days, with 370 deaths from starvation, including 131 children.
- Israel’s military is using artillery, blockades and starvation as weapons, targeting hospitals, aid trucks and civilians to pressure forced displacement.
- U.S. Senators and international observers accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing, while Western leaders continue funding and arming the offensive.
- Palestinians refuse to abandon their homes, declaring they would rather die there than flee to certain starvation or bombing elsewhere.
Imagine waking up to the sound of artillery fire, knowing that if you stay in your home, you might be buried under rubble... but if you flee, you could starve in the streets. That’s the nightmare facing more than a million Palestinians in Gaza City right now, as Israel’s military admits it now controls 40 percent of the city and plans to raze the entire area once fully captured.
A city under siege
Since August 10, Israel has unleashed a relentless offensive on Gaza City, reducing neighborhoods like Zeitoun to ruins in just weeks. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past 20 days alone. Yet Israel’s military isn’t stopping. Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin declared Thursday that Israeli forces now hold 40 percent of Gaza City, with plans to expand operations in the coming days.
The goal? Forcible displacement. Israel wants 1 million Palestinians to flee. So far, only 70,000 have left, many too weak from malnutrition to move. Those who stay risk being crushed under tanks or bombed in their homes. "Even if Israel issues warnings, there are no places that can accommodate the people," said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil emergency service.
"We want to die here"
For those who refuse to leave, the choice is simple: die in their homes or die on the road. "This time, I am not leaving my house. I want to die here," texted Um Nader, a mother of five, to Reuters. "Tens of thousands of those who left their homes were killed by Israel too, so why bother?"
Her words cut to the heart of Israel’s strategy of terrorizing civilians into submission. The IDF admits it’s firing artillery into "unpopulated areas" to pressure people to flee. But where can they go? Nowhere in Gaza is safe. The U.N. has warned of famine conditions, and health officials report 370 deaths from starvation, including 131 children.
A war crime in plain sight
Israel’s actions aren’t just brutal; they’re highly calculated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has openly discussed permanent Israeli settlements in Gaza, while far-right ministers push for military rule. Meanwhile, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley returned from Gaza with a chilling assessment: "The Netanyahu government is engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing."
And yet, the world does nothing.
What if the roles were reversed?
Imagine if Hamas — or any other group — bulldozed Israeli cities, forced 1 million Jews to flee at gunpoint, and bombed hospitals, schools and refugee camps. The outcry would be deafening. Sanctions would drop overnight. But because the victims are Palestinian, the slaughter continues.
Israel claims this is about "dismantling Hamas." But when 80 percent of the dead are women and children, when universities, mosques, and entire neighborhoods are leveled, and when starvation is used as a weapon, this isn’t counterterrorism; it’s genocide by another name.
The evidence is undeniable. International law is being shredded. War crimes are being livestreamed. And yet, Western leaders, including in the U.S., continue to fund and arm Israel’s war machine.
How many more children must die before the world finally takes a firm stance? The people of Gaza have made their choice: "We want to die here." The question now is whether the rest of humanity will let them — or if we’ll finally demand justice. Because if we don’t, history will remember this as the moment we let evil win.
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