What Kind Of Israel Is Netanyahu Creating?

Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel faces global outrage for Gaza war tactics, accused of ethnic cleansing and humanitarian violations.

- JOHN DOBSON

Last Sunday, 10-year-old Abdullah collected his family's jerrycans and headed towards one of the water distribution points in the urban Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. Water shortages in Gaza are worsening daily because of the lack of fuel and spare parts for desalination, pumping and sanitation facilities.

Children queueing up by the side of the road every morning with their yellow jerrycans waiting for the daily water truck to arrive is therefore a common sight across the Gaza Strip. Each child is allowed to collect 10 litres of water for the family, which is used for washing, cleaning, cooking and drinking.

On arrival, little Abdullah stood patiently in a queue with other thirsty children. Minutes later he was dead, his body parts scattered among the adjacent destroyed building. Along with 5 other children and 4 adults, Abdullah was killed by a bomb from an Israeli warplane. Sixteen others were severely injured. On Thursday, 10 children and 3 women were also killed as they waited for nutritional supplements outside a clinic in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah. Such deaths are common all the time across Gaza.

According to Sam Rose, the acting Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), "in every single day, since the start of the war, an average of a classroom of children has been killed."

The Israeli military always responds by saying that they had targeted a Hamas "terrorist" and regretted harming any civilians. When asked about the death of little Abdullah, an Israeli military spokesman said "the munition fell dozens of metres from the target as a result of technical error", adding that "the incident is under review".