“Hamas doesn’t get to escape accountability every time it rains.” This was the official response of Israel’s Foreign Ministry as floods swept through the tents of Gaza’s traumatised survivors.
Throughout the genocide, the Israeli state has never bothered to disguise its hateful contempt for the civilian population, half of whom are children, as it has set about wiping Gaza from the face of the earth. Here, it openly ridicules outrage at the humanitarian catastrophe it has engineered through genocide. This weekend, three children – aged four, five and eight – and their mother died when a sand dune collapsed on their tent. Presumably this is the accountability Israel refers to.
This was not the only response offering a grotesque blend of depravity and sassiness. Israel’s official social media account posted: “Contrary to popular belief, Israel does not control the weather.” What Israel does control is a military – which has damaged or destroyed 82% of all structures in Gaza, leaving 1.4 million Palestinians – two thirds of the population – living in tents or makeshift shelters.
The apocalyptic conditions being endured by Gaza’s survivors are central planks of a genocide which never stopped.