Israeli Airstrikes Kill 406 Palestinians—Mostly Children—in Gaza

Entire families were wiped out as Israel bombed the very areas it had designated as “safe zones,” turning supposed sanctuaries into mass graves.

Israel killed more than 400 people in its scorched earth bombings Tuesday. Among the dead are at least 174 children and 89 women, local authorities said.

It is the 17th night of Ramadan. A night of prayer, of whispered supplications, of exhausted bodies pushing through the fast to reach the mercy of dawn. But in Gaza, there is no dawn. There is only the never-ending hum of drones, the sudden, shattering light of missiles splitting the sky, and the cries of children trapped beneath the rubble of homes, mosques, and schools.

In under an hour, Israel has murdered at least 90 Palestinian children—families obliterated, bodies turned to dust.

I scroll through my timeline, again. Each image more harrowing than the last. A tiny body, wrapped in a bloodstained cloth, wearing a jumpsuit decorated with rainbows. A father carrying his son’s remains in a plastic bag. A mother screaming into the night, her voice lost beneath the sound of F-16s tearing apart what was left of her world.

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The Israeli army has killed the mother, wife, and children of Dr. Ayman Abu Tayr, the Head of the Nutrition Department at Nasser Medical Complex southern Gaza Strip.

The killing of medical workers and their families is not random, nor an unfortunate byproduct of war. It is deliberate, it is systematic, and it is strategic—a calculated component of the genocide. And yet, the headlines still read: Israel targets Hamas amid fragile ceasefire.

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There is no ceasefire. There is no food. No water. No evacuations. Only death.

The Manufactured Consent for Genocide

Western media has long since abandoned even the pretense of objectivity. They write about “safe zones” even as Israel flattens them. They parrot Israel’s justifications even as mass graves fill with the bodies of women and children. They manufacture consent for war, gaslight an entire world, and turn genocide into a debate about “security concerns.”

Tonight, Israel bombed Rafah—the very place it forced 1.5 million displaced Palestinians to take refuge in, the so-called “safe zone.” It was a death trap, always meant to be. They were ordered there, only to be massacred. But the headlines will call it a “targeted strike.” The language of occupation is always clinical, detached—designed to mask the horror, to dilute the truth.

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A War for Netanyahu’s Survival

This isn’t about hostages. It never was.

Netanyahu refused to enter negotiations for a lasting truce. He rejected a permanent ceasefire. He escalated, again, because his political survival depends on it. A budget vote looms, his coalition teeters, and the far-right demands more blood. His government has already promised a “total takeover of Gaza.” So the bombs fall, the earth shakes, and the children of Gaza pay the price for his corruption, his cowardice, his insatiable hunger for power.

Tonight, the Israeli defense minister declared that “the gates of hell” would be opened. As if they haven’t been open for months. As if the people of Gaza haven’t already been burned alive, starved, erased from existence, their names reduced to numbers, their suffering reduced to footnotes.

Al Jazeera English spoke to Ahmed Abu Riziq, an English teacher in Gaza, a man who has spent months trying to explain to the world, in plain terms, what it means to endure a genocide.

A World That Watches and Does Nothing

For weeks, the United Nations has issued statements. The European Union has expressed concern. The U.S. has called for “restraint.” But no one has intervened. No sanctions. No red lines. Just more weapons, more funding, more complicity. The so-called international community watches, waiting for a massacre so grand, so grotesque, that it can no longer be ignored. But by then, who will be left?

Over 250 Palestinians have been killed tonight. The death toll will rise by morning.

Ramadan is supposed to be a time of reflection, renewal, faith. But how does one pray in a graveyard? How does one fast when the world is already starving you? How does one find mercy when the sky itself is a weapon?

And yet, despite it all, Gaza endures. Amid the rubble, the grief, the void of humanity—Gaza resists. Because even as the world betrays them, even as their homes turn to dust, the Palestinian people refuse to disappear.

War as a Political Survival

Israel’s renewed offensive isn’t just military—it’s a survival strategy. By derailing ceasefire talks, Netanyahu delays postwar governance in Gaza, silences protests, and secures his grip on power. Chaos is his currency.

Silencing Opposition & Securing Allies

Netanyahu is moving to oust Ronen Bar, the security chief investigating his corruption. With military objectives unmet, war becomes his last refuge. Escalation also locks in support from far-right allies like Ben-Gvir, whose backing ensures Netanyahu can pass his budget and avoid collapse.

U.S. Complicity & the Bigger Picture

Trump and Steve Witkoff’s attempts to shape Israeli policy backfired, forcing the White House to appease Netanyahu—even at the cost of delaying American hostages’ release. Meanwhile, Israel’s neocon lobby drags the U.S. into conflict with the Houthis, a crisis that could have been avoided had Israel simply allowed baby formula into Gaza.

This isn’t about security or stability. It’s about power. And as long as Israeli society embraces war crimes and U.S. politics bows to Israel’s lobbyists, Netanyahu will keep getting away with it.