The gravity of civilian casualties demands particularly close attention to context and relevant statements. On the one hand, the UK prime minister claimed 19th October 2023, with the USA echoing soon after, that Israel is ‘taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians’.3 But Israeli leaders expressed intent to “cause maximum damage” and to “flatten” the Gaza Strip4 alongside plans for ethnic cleansing. In light of these statements and the extensive bombing, UN experts and scholars of genocide and Holocaust studies warned as early as October of genocidal intent, impending genocide or even a ‘textbook case of genocide’.5 Such violence in the service of native elimination is a near-universal feature of settler colonial projects.6 This backdrop contextualises the declaration from Israeli President Isaac Herzog that ‘[w]e intend to take over the entire Gaza Strip and change the course of history’.7
Continue reading at https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/5/e014756