Israel Launches “Final Solution” In Gaza
Palestine’s Existence Hangs in the Balance… What Are YOU Going to Do?
Smoke from Israeli army airstrike in northern Gaza Strip, May 16, 2025. Photo: AP
WARNING: One of the most towering crimes of humanity in recent decades is about to be committed. Israel—with the active support and inspiration of the fascist Trump regime—has announced plans to forcibly expel, on pain of starvation and murder, the Palestinian population of Gaza. This must not stand!
At a meeting last Sunday of Israel's governing body, the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that the intention of his regime is to make Gaza unlivable, forcing the surviving Palestinians to leave, in a second Nakba, and never be allowed to return: “We are destroying more and more homes, and Gazans have nowhere to return to. The only inevitable outcome will be the wish of Gazans to emigrate outside of the Gaza Strip... The main problem is finding countries to take them in.”
In other words, either leave… or die.
The "Nakba" means the catastrophe in Arabic. It refers to the founding of Israel in 1948 where the racist, Jewish supremacist Zionists unleashed a massive wave of violence and terror against the Palestinians who had inhabited the land for centuries. About 750,000 Palestinians—more than 80 percent of the population in what would become the state of Israel—were expelled or fled and became refugees. Some 400 Palestinian towns and villages were either completely destroyed or repopulated by Jewish settlers and given new Hebrew names.
This is Israel's clear intent. And it's being backed, funded and fueled by the U.S., with Trump fascism now in power. After 19 months of genocidal onslaught, Palestinian life and society in Gaza hang by the thinnest of threads. Now Israel has launched its “concluding moves”—the second Nakba to snuff that life and society out, permanently.
This is not hyperbole. We’ve been witnessing a world-historic crime against humanity, and now it could mean the end of Palestinian life in Gaza—unless masses of people around the world, especially in the U.S., find their voices and courage to massively oppose and stop this.
Israel’s Trump-Greenlighted “Gideon’s Chariots”—Chariots of Genocide
Netanyahu promised that "In the coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation... we are going all the way." And again, he made clear that "all the way" meant relocating whoever survives the massive bombing campaign to other countries "willing to take them in. That's what we're working on right now."
Netanyahu says Israeli army to enter Gaza 'with full force' in coming days
These are what Netanyahu says are Israel's "concluding moves" of the genocide in Gaza, which they are calling operation “Gideon’s Chariots.” This involves a massive deployment of Israeli forces across Gaza and mass destruction of any remaining buildings in Gaza. Their aim is the “conquest of the Gaza Strip.” They intend to seize and hold territory, occupying Gaza indefinitely. They are forcing all the Palestinians in Gaza—in the north, central, and south—into the devastated hell-scape along the Egyptian border that used to be the city of Rafah. How would Israel do this? Through “wide-scale” attacks and the destruction of all of what remains of Gaza’s infrastructure—its homes, schools, hospitals, farms, bakeries, and more.1
Israel’s rulers say they are implementing Trump’s plan, announced in February, to “own” and rebuild Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East”—with no Palestinians allowed. Last Sunday, Netanyahu (aka Netan-Nazi) said Israelis will not be moved into Gaza because the U.S. is still "interested in taking control." Trump also repeated his talk of taking over Gaza during his Middle East trip last week, and on May 16, NBC News reported, “Trump administration working on plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya.”2
Israel’s Operation Launches with Drastic Escalation of Slaughter and Starvation
The bombardment throughout Gaza has been staggering with the number of people murdered rising every day. Social media accounts from within Gaza are filled with people saying goodbye to their family and followers:
“Over 10 airstrikes hit at the same damn time!! They're wiping out whole neighborhoods like its nothing!” “The tanks have surrounded us, people, we are dying” “consecutive air strikes are hitting the city from all directions.” “The bombing on the Gaza Strip has been ongoing for three hours without pause, with unprecedented intensity as if it’s the first day of the war. Explosions shake the ground, smoke fills the sky, and the scene brings back memories of those early days we thought had passed.” “And with these words, I say goodbye to you too. I won't survive the night-I can feel it deep within me.”3
“The number of people killed in Israeli military strikes has significantly increased in the last week,” Haaretz reported. “From Sunday [May 11] to Tuesday, approximately 20 to 50 people were killed every day. According to authorities in Gaza, at least 70 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday and 120 were killed on Thursday.” Then, in the space of 24 hours (May 16-17), at least 146 people were killed.
A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense described Israeli forces intensifying their “indiscriminate bombings, striking inhabited homes without warning and targeting ambulance crews attempting to reach survivors.”4
Israeli tanks and APCs about to invade Gaza. May 15, 2025. Photo: AP
Israel bombed two hospitals in Khan Younis, Nassar Hospital and European Hospital, shutting down Gaza’s only hospitals serving the territory’s 10,000 cancer patients. Since October 2023, the World Health Organization had recorded 686 Israeli attacks on health facilities in Gaza, including damaging at least 33 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals. Attacking hospitals is a war crime.
This gives a glimpse of the further horror promised by Trump and Netanyahu.
Whether you’re in “shelters, tents or buildings… evacuate to the south immediately”
Whether you’re in “shelters, tents or buildings… evacuate to the south immediately.” These were the threatening mandatory evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military across much of northern Gaza. Drop Site News described what people were forced to endure:
The scenes of mass displacement on Wednesday [May 13] were like a slow-moving human flood flowing through destroyed streets. The roar of warplanes combined with the buzzing drones overhead. Men carried what little belongings they could: torn sleeping mats, dusty blankets, and tattered bags. Women walked behind them, carrying or followed by children. Some of the children were walking barefoot, and others dragged their school bags filled with clothes and a few bottles of water.
Drop Site reported, “Footage obtained by Al Jazeera documented Israeli forces targeting and killing civilians attempting to flee with artillery fire.”
Razing the “Safe Haven” of Rafah
As planned, Palestinians in Gaza are being forced to flee with nowhere to go.
In 2024, some one million people in Gaza fled to the southernmost city Rafah to escape Israel’s onslaught. Now as part of “Gideon’s Chariots,” Israel is razing it to the ground—leaving no structure standing. The New York Times reports that satellite images they analyzed show “that the Israeli military has flattened large areas in and around the city of Rafah and built new military infrastructure in the last two months.... The recent destruction is much more far-reaching, flattening mosques, schools, greenhouses and even greenery."
“Israel Blockade Is a Tool of Extermination”
Palestinians struggle to get some food in Jabalia, May 15, 2025. Photo: AP
As all this is taking place, Israel’s total blockade of food, water, medicine and other necessities is continuing and massive starvation is not only looming larger, it’s already arrived. Aid organizations have run out of food, and over 500,000 people in Gaza are facing starvation. Children—repeat: CHILDREN—are being starved to death.
Aid officials are warning that this Israeli-made famine is rapidly growing more severe by the day. On top of this, 75 percent of Gazans have no access to drinkable water. All of this could be easily and immediately prevented because miles of aid trucks are lined up at Gaza’s borders and ready to roll in. Israel just won’t let them.5
Israel has even prohibited the nutrient supplements and therapeutic food used to treat malnutrition from entering Gaza! The organization Human Rights Watch concludes, “Israel’s blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination.”
Whatever Their Differences, Trump Is All In on Ethnic Cleansing
Leading into and during Trump’s four-day trip to the Middle East, there was rampant speculation, in the Israeli media in particular, that Trump and the U.S. had real differences with Israel’s government over the region and Gaza, and were pressuring Israel to agree to a new ceasefire deal in Gaza.
It is beyond the scope of this article to dig into what differences the Trump/MAGA fascist regime may—or may not—have with the Netan-Nazi government, over regional strategy or over Gaza, and what those differences may be.
However, at this writing, the main facts are these:
- Israel escalated its slaughter when Trump was right in the area and Trump has made no criticism of the open mass killing. His regime did not object when Israel launched its “Gideon’s Chariots” operation.
- Trump has repeated his calls for U.S. control of Gaza after Israel ethnically cleanses all the Palestinians: “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” Trump said, adding: “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.”
- After Trump returned, news leaked that his regime was exploring sending one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya—where a war between different ruling factions is continuing and conditions for the masses of people are terrible.
- At Sunday’s Knesset meeting, when asked by an opposition party member about possible differences with Trump, Netanyahu responded, “Remember the words—we don't agree on everything, but nothing will happen that will pose a risk to Israel, and there will be no Palestinian state.”
- As we go to press, various negotiations are taking place involving Israel, Hamas, the U.S. and other countries in the region and beyond as Israel's atrocities unfold. This may result in a temporary ceasefire. We don’t know where this could end up, but Netan-Nazi is making his determination clear: “There will be no situation where we stop the war. A temporary ceasefire might happen, but we are going all the way.”
U.S.-Israeli “Surveillance Humanitarianism”
Finally, one thing that apparently did get concretized and agreed on between the U.S. and Israel this past week was the creation of a U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This is supposedly going to bring food and other aid into Gaza. However, as we analyzed last week in Israel Announces Its Own “Auschwitz,” this scheme is not going to end hunger in Gaza.
Alex de Waal, an expert on starvation, argues that even if the U.S. plan goes ahead, “It’s pretty clear the conclusion is mass starvation would still unfold, just somewhat more slowly.... this sort of individually targeted surveillance humanitarianism is keeping individuals and families alive, but dismantling the entire structure of society.”
In short it would help facilitate—not stop—Trump’s “vision” for Gaza and Israel’s genocide!6
"The moment demands it"
Calling for people in the U.S. to speak out and against the escalating genocide, the journalist Zack Beauchamp wrote:
...if there’s a moment for renewed public attention, it’s now. This time really is different: The coming days and weeks could very well decide whether there will be Palestinian life in Gaza after the war in any meaningful sense. Ordinary Americans don’t control Israel’s government or the Trump administration, but they do retain the capacity to express moral outrage. The moment demands it.
Israel's ramped up and open genocide of the Palestinian people. Trump's open support of this, and expressed desire to control Gaza. Trump's vicious repression of pro-Palestinian protesters and attempt to criminalize all protest against this genocide.
No, we do not “control” these things. But what we do—or do not do—will either give all this a green light, through our silent complicity. OR we will act—in mass, sustained, nonviolent but determined protest—to demand this nightmare STOP.
And as we wrote recently:
With fascism rapidly accelerating, the attack on academic freedom AND the attack on the anti-genocide, pro-Palestine movement are closely intertwined. The protests of the past nearly two years are exactly the kind of thing the Trump regime wants to stamp out, as part of their overall assault. All this must be fought—and must involve people coming together from different perspectives and viewpoints behind the unifying demand: The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go—NOW!
Stop the U.S./Israeli Genocidal Slaughter of the Palestinian People!
In the Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America
