As Israel gets ready for its ground invasion of Rafah, its propaganda teams and Zionists bots on the ground are busy distracting us all from the pariah states atrocities by staging one man protests and screaming about antisemitism in Universities (initially in America, but now globally). By now we all know there is no such thing as free press in the “free world” so of course our media have been busy frothing at the mouth about students demonstrating and the inevitable collapse of democracy and civilisation with right-wing pundits crawling out from under their rocks to condemn, not the deliberate killing of almost 40,000 people, over 13,000 of whom are children (CHILDREN). No, they have reared their ugly heads to condemn young people for using critical thinking skills and protesting a genocide and the complicity of their universities in funding it.

Whilst our media attempt to distract us with protests, the Israeli Occupation Forces have been committing even more atrocities in Khan Younis. Earlier this week Gaza Civil Defence crews said more than 300 bodies have been recovered from the mass grave at the Nasser Medical Complex. A mass grave was also discovered earlier this month under al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, which was turned into a graveyard after the Israeli army lay siege to it for two weeks. Uncovering no Hamas operatives nor rescuing any hostages, the incompetent but bloodthirsty occupiers did manage to break more international laws. Volker Turk, the United Nations human rights chief said “Every 10 minutes, a child is killed or wounded. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price in this war,”

At least 300 bodies were discovered in this latest grave. Some with their hands tied behind their backs, others had medical instruments such as catheters still attached to them, whilst others appeared to have organs missing. Bodies were found with gun shot wounds and dismembered limbs. Some of were decomposing as they had been put in plastic bags which accelerates decomposition. Evidence of torture, executions and people being buried alive has also been unearthed. Although many have yet to be identified, bodies of children, women, the elderly and hospital staff (in their uniforms) have been discovered. The scenes from al-Nasser hospital are absolutely horrific and heart breaking. Mothers trying to identify their children by their clothes as their bodies are beyond recognisable.

The UN, EU and Washington have all called for independent investigations, but as we know, Israel doesn’t allow any independent investigators or journalists into Gaza. Even their funders, America, are not allowed to witness the full scale of their atrocities. The international community has completely failed Gaza by allowing Israel to continue its reign of terror with zero accountability and endless streams of funding! More journalist have been killed in Gaza since October 7th than any other armed conflict, and yet still the majority of media in the global north continues to push Israeli lies and propaganda and label everything from octopuses to protests, antisemitic. Brave Gazans have been documenting their own genocide, with their evidence even used in the International Criminal Court, yet somehow its not sufficient for those funding the bombs!

The dehumanisation of Palestinians has led to a situation where even the discovery of multiple mass graves doesn’t appal us into action. Imagine if a single mass grave was discovered, with even a dozen bodies in the UK, or France or Germany. We would be rightfully horrified. Over 700 bodies have been discovered in mass graves in Gaza and still the occupation is funded by our tax money to continue its genocidal ambitions to ethically cleanse Gaza. Many are more outraged by peaceful demonisations than the discovery of mass graves!

In the last 24 hours Israel has killed 66 Palestinians and detained a further 15, bringing the number of Palestinians jailed by Israel to 8,485 since October 7th. We know that 16 of these prisoners have died yet only one body has been released back to its family. Although an official ground invasion hasn’t begun, Rafah has been under constant bombardment with airstrikes deliberately targeting residential buildings. Its estimated around 1.3 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah, the southern most city in Gaza. Its original population was around 280,000. Its now a sea of tents housing a displaced population. The water and electricity have long been cut off and this tiny area, approximately 25 square miles, is now home to more than half of the total population of Gaza. According to Amnesty, over 1.5 million people trapped in Rafah have nowhere safe to go, and many have already been displaced multiple times. All of the Israeli supposed-safe spaces have been compromised, without exception, further proof that there was never truly anywhere safe in Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) says up to 80% of civilian infrastructure – including homes, hospitals, schools, water, and sanitation facilities – have been destroyed across Gaza or are severely damaged and will take billions of dollars of investment over decades to recover. This besieged population has nowhere else to go. Not only are they trapped, they are also being starved to death by the occupation who refuses to let aid into Gaza. Israeli officials have been consistent and clear in their genocidal ideals with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordering a complete siege on Gaza, saying: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed, we are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.” The majority of the Israeli population seem to agree with this stance with a recent poll suggesting 68% of Israeli Jews oppose transferring aid to Gaza. These Israeli’s have also been physically protesting aid coming into Gaza.

As the temperatures rise so do the risks of disease in these cramped and unhygienic camps. According to UNICEF, in Rafah, there is approximately one toilet for every 850 people. For showers, it’s four times that number – one shower for every 3600 people. UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder has said: “Before this war, child wasting in the Gaza Strip was rare with less than one per cent of children under 5 years of age acutely malnourished. Today one in three children under 2 years are acutely malnourished. Clearly, the north needs massive amounts of food and nutrition treatments, urgently. But let’s be clear – our efforts to provide that aid are being hampered. There is an existing old crossing point, Erez, that could be used that is 10 minutes from those facing famine. 10 minutes. Open that and we could turn this humanitarian crisis in the north around in a matter of days. But it remains closed. Between 1 – 22 March, one-quarter of 40 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were denied. UNRWA is now blocked from delivering food to the north, and yet 50% of food going to the north was delivered by UNRWA. Let’s be clear: Lifesaving aid is being obstructed. Lives are being lost. Dignity is being denied.”

Israel is falling apart. There are huge demonstrations against the government handling of the hostage situation (not the genocide!!), settler violence is on the increase and internally the government seems to be divided, with the far right threatening to overthrow the government if the ground invasion doesn’t go ahead. Netanyahu is apparently scared and worried that the ICC will soon issue arrest warrants for war crimes in Gaza. Across the globe people are protesting the pariah state and seeing it for what it truly is, a settler colonial apartheid state. Its leaders and its allies know that time is against them. This is a dangerous time for Palestinians. Israel has lost its war and it’s reputation is forever damaged. With its back against the wall, it will do everything it can to destroy Gaza, kill even more Palestinians and grab more land. It’s imperative that we all refocus our gaze back on Gaza, especially on Rafah, and make all the noise we can to ensure that our leaders take every possible action to force a ceasefire.