Israel, backed by a capricious Donald Trump, never intended to honour the ceasefire. These airstrikes mark a dire new phase in the conflictThe first and last rule of Benjamin Netanyahu’s doctrine of perpetual warfare is brutally to the point: peace cannot and must not be allowed to last. As indiscriminate, deadly fire once again descends upon the defenceless people of Gaza, unleashed on the orders of Israel’s bellicose prime minister, an anguished cry is heard. Is the precious two-month-long ceasefire with Hamas definitively over? To which comes the dismaying answer: it barely matters. This truce, now shattering into a million pieces, was but a brief, deceptive pause in a war that never stops.It doesn’t stop because Netanyahu is sustained in office by the unceasing state of national emergency that he and his supporters have nurtured and prolonged since the 7 October 2023 terrorist attacks. The war doesn’t stop because Netanyahu’s overarching aim – the destruction of Palestinian hope...
Simon Tisdall argues that Netanyahu's doctrine of perpetual warfare prioritizes preventing lasting peace, sustained by a state of national emergency since October 7th. The aim is to destroy Palestinian hopes of nationhood and create a greater Israel, facilitated by land grabs in the West Bank. The ceasefire with Hamas is over, marking a new phase in the conflict.
