Opinion / Columnist
The Tide is Turning - Israel's War on Gaza Under Global Moral Siege
22 hrs ago | Views
A profound shift is underway. For nearly two years, Israel's relentless military offensive in Gaza has unfolded under a fog of impunity, shielded by the language of self-defense, the memory of historical trauma, and the political muscle of its Western allies. But July 28, 2025, may go down as the day the tide of international and internal moral opinion began to irrevocably turn.
In a moment of extraordinary rupture, two of Israel's most respected human rights organizations - B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) - declared unambiguously that their state is committing genocide in Gaza. This is not a charge from the outside, nor an echo from the chorus of global protest. This is an accusation from within - from Jewish Israelis themselves, many descendants of Holocaust survivors, breaking a cultural and historical taboo to call the crime by its name.
From Repression to Annihilation
B'Tselem's report states that the war marked a shift "from repression and control to destruction and annihilation." PHRI's legal-medical analysis lays out, with forensic precision, how Israel's deliberate policies have methodically dismantled Gaza's health infrastructure, cut off electricity and water, and imposed starvation - all while pursuing the permanent displacement of its people. These are not mere "collateral damages" of war; they are, the groups argue, hallmarks of an intent to destroy a people in whole or in part - the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 Convention.
The accusations are bolstered by chilling statements from senior Israeli officials and commanders, many of whom have publicly endorsed Gaza's total destruction. As PHRI's Guy Shalev - himself the grandson of a Holocaust survivor - painfully acknowledged, Israel's current trajectory is erasing the moral foundation upon which the state was founded: "Never again" was meant for all humanity.
International Opinion: The Silence Is Cracking
For decades, Western complicity has enabled Israeli aggression to proceed unchecked, swaddled in diplomatic immunity and blanketed by a media narrative that prioritizes Israeli security while rendering Palestinian suffering invisible.
But now, that protective shell is fracturing. Four G7 countries have signaled their intention to recognize the State of Palestine and back the two-state solution - a diplomatic earthquake that would have been unthinkable even a year ago. Once staunch allies of Israel, they are now being forced by their own electorates, civil society groups, and legal obligations to confront a bitter truth: they are enabling apartheid, occupation, and now, genocide.
Even the International Court of Justice - a body not easily moved by politics - is currently deliberating South Africa's genocide case against Israel. The issuance of international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court reflects the growing legal isolation of a state that once prided itself as a democracy born from suffering.
The Erosion of Israel's Moral Justification
The moral edifice that has sustained Israel's military actions is visibly crumbling. Inside the country, debate has long been suffocated by the fear of undermining the memory of the Holocaust. Criticism of Israel's military conduct has been equated with antisemitism, even when such critiques come from within Jewish communities themselves.
But the latest reports show that even this fear is no longer enough to suppress the truth. When respected Jewish-Israeli groups, long labeled as fringe, begin using the word "genocide" - not rhetorically, but legally and morally - the echo cannot be confined.
Israeli society remains deeply polarized. Many citizens, still haunted by the October 7 Hamas attack, continue to view the Gaza campaign as just retribution. But others are beginning to question: At what cost? Can the survival of one people justify the deliberate annihilation of another?
A Reckoning Long Overdue
Israel's military dominance has long rendered it impervious to external condemnation. But it is now discovering that moral legitimacy cannot be sustained by force alone. The growing use of the term genocide, especially from Israeli Jewish voices, is not merely a political embarrassment; it is an existential threat to Israel's identity and international standing.
The silence of the so-called "international community" is no longer tenable. B'Tselem's international director, Sarit Michaeli, was blunt: "We have an obligation to do everything we can to speak the truth about this, to stand by the victims." The question is no longer whether Israel is losing its moral compass - it is whether the world will finally respond with meaningful consequences.
As history's wheel turns, one truth becomes increasingly clear: Genocide cannot be justified, not even by the trauma of another. The tide is turning - and with it, the world may finally be waking up.
Fikile is a political commentator based I'm Johannesburg. fikile.ntolilo@gmail.com
In a moment of extraordinary rupture, two of Israel's most respected human rights organizations - B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) - declared unambiguously that their state is committing genocide in Gaza. This is not a charge from the outside, nor an echo from the chorus of global protest. This is an accusation from within - from Jewish Israelis themselves, many descendants of Holocaust survivors, breaking a cultural and historical taboo to call the crime by its name.
From Repression to Annihilation
B'Tselem's report states that the war marked a shift "from repression and control to destruction and annihilation." PHRI's legal-medical analysis lays out, with forensic precision, how Israel's deliberate policies have methodically dismantled Gaza's health infrastructure, cut off electricity and water, and imposed starvation - all while pursuing the permanent displacement of its people. These are not mere "collateral damages" of war; they are, the groups argue, hallmarks of an intent to destroy a people in whole or in part - the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 Convention.
The accusations are bolstered by chilling statements from senior Israeli officials and commanders, many of whom have publicly endorsed Gaza's total destruction. As PHRI's Guy Shalev - himself the grandson of a Holocaust survivor - painfully acknowledged, Israel's current trajectory is erasing the moral foundation upon which the state was founded: "Never again" was meant for all humanity.
International Opinion: The Silence Is Cracking
For decades, Western complicity has enabled Israeli aggression to proceed unchecked, swaddled in diplomatic immunity and blanketed by a media narrative that prioritizes Israeli security while rendering Palestinian suffering invisible.
But now, that protective shell is fracturing. Four G7 countries have signaled their intention to recognize the State of Palestine and back the two-state solution - a diplomatic earthquake that would have been unthinkable even a year ago. Once staunch allies of Israel, they are now being forced by their own electorates, civil society groups, and legal obligations to confront a bitter truth: they are enabling apartheid, occupation, and now, genocide.
Even the International Court of Justice - a body not easily moved by politics - is currently deliberating South Africa's genocide case against Israel. The issuance of international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court reflects the growing legal isolation of a state that once prided itself as a democracy born from suffering.
The moral edifice that has sustained Israel's military actions is visibly crumbling. Inside the country, debate has long been suffocated by the fear of undermining the memory of the Holocaust. Criticism of Israel's military conduct has been equated with antisemitism, even when such critiques come from within Jewish communities themselves.
But the latest reports show that even this fear is no longer enough to suppress the truth. When respected Jewish-Israeli groups, long labeled as fringe, begin using the word "genocide" - not rhetorically, but legally and morally - the echo cannot be confined.
Israeli society remains deeply polarized. Many citizens, still haunted by the October 7 Hamas attack, continue to view the Gaza campaign as just retribution. But others are beginning to question: At what cost? Can the survival of one people justify the deliberate annihilation of another?
A Reckoning Long Overdue
Israel's military dominance has long rendered it impervious to external condemnation. But it is now discovering that moral legitimacy cannot be sustained by force alone. The growing use of the term genocide, especially from Israeli Jewish voices, is not merely a political embarrassment; it is an existential threat to Israel's identity and international standing.
The silence of the so-called "international community" is no longer tenable. B'Tselem's international director, Sarit Michaeli, was blunt: "We have an obligation to do everything we can to speak the truth about this, to stand by the victims." The question is no longer whether Israel is losing its moral compass - it is whether the world will finally respond with meaningful consequences.
As history's wheel turns, one truth becomes increasingly clear: Genocide cannot be justified, not even by the trauma of another. The tide is turning - and with it, the world may finally be waking up.
Fikile is a political commentator based I'm Johannesburg. fikile.ntolilo@gmail.com
Source - Fikile wa Motsamai
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