“In all my years of humanitarian work, I’ve never witnessed something so barbaric, so atrocious, so inhumane. These images will haunt me forever and will stain our conscience for eternity,” said a doctor volunteering in Gaza, capturing the sheer horror of the airstrike on Rafah on May 26, 2024.
The world has witnessed many massacres live-streamed from Gaza over the past eight months. However, the gut-wrenching scenes from the unspeakable massacre in the Tal Al-Sultan displacement camp on the eve of May 26, 2024 mere days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must halt its offensive on Rafah, stand out in their sheer cruelty and brutality, adding a new layer of horror to Israel’s ongoing depraved genocidal frenzy.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched the devastating airstrike on this makeshift displacement camp near the UN offices in northern Rafah in an area that it had previously designated as a ‘safe zone,’ according to the leaflets they scattered throughout the area. Yet, this so-called ‘safe zone’ became a death trap and the epicenter of a new atrocity for innocent civilians desperately seeking refuge in this tent city from the relentless carnage.
The attack happened while Palestinians in their tents were getting ready to go to sleep—some already asleep, and others gathering with their friends and families after completing their night prayers—only to be engulfed by the blaze. The fire, which exceeded three meters high, consumed people alive. The strike killed over 45 people, including at least 18 children. It left behind only charred remnants of those incinerated bodies who, seconds earlier, were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, and babies.
Some images started emerging on X after the missile strike , one in particular so unspeakable that an individual could never have imagined putting these two words together to describe…a headless baby, carried by a man with the fire blazing behind and all around him. People watched in horror and outrage as more images and videos were shared.
MintPress News posted on June 4 that the decapitated child in the viral video was identified as Ahmad Al-Najjar. He was only one and a half years old when he was killed alongside his mother and his two sisters, Houda and Arkan.
Accepting that this is happening to living, breathing children and human beings, perpetrated by other living, breathing human beings with souls and hearts, not just mechanical pumps, is beyond comprehension. The reason I’m only posting this today and not sooner is because it took me three days to stop trembling and the remaining days since have just drifted in a complete fog, those images now seared into my memory. I imagine the children’s last moments on earth—the horror, the cries, the inescapable terror of their final moments, and later, the wailing of mothers and fathers.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths a “tragic accident.” Less than 24 hours later, 21 more Palestinians were killed in another refugee camp, and the bloodbath continues day after day after day.
Journalist Owen Jones highlighted that: “As soon as we become desensitized, as soon as we allow this to be normalized, then they really have won. When these atrocities are committed, let’s not forget them. Let’s not let the Israeli state deflect, dissemble, and gaslight, hoping we all just forget. Each of the Palestinians who were butchered by the Israeli state mattered, and those who stole those lives should be held to account.”
For the full video and more of Owen Jones’s insights, click here.
No Place is Safe in Gaza
The criminal attack on Tal Al-Sultan underscores the cruel paradox faced by Gazans—forced to flee to areas deemed safe by the very forces that later bomb them. This latest atrocity emphasizes the urgent need for robust measures to safeguard civilians and uphold human rights and international law amidst the horrors faced by defenseless Palestinians through months of genocide.
The Gaza Strip is 25 miles (40 kilometers) long and about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide, covering an area of 360 square kilometers, according to the CIA Factbook. Since last October, Israel has dropped more than 70,000 tons of bombs on the 360 square kilometer strip, far surpassing the bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined during World War II. Despite this relentless bombardment, and over 36,000 lives killed and 100,000 casualties, the extremist Israeli Government is not yet done with Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) posted on X, “There is no such thing as a safe place in Gaza. Nowhere and nobody is safe. Every day that goes by, more civilians die and families are forced to live in increasingly unspeakable conditions. The Gaza Strip has become hell on earth. The only remaining hope is a #CeasefireNow.”
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has repeatedly emphasized the shocking reality that there are no safe places in Gaza. Shelters, hospitals, and designated humanitarian zones have all been targeted, making the concept of safe zones an illusion. Griffiths has warned that the military operations, especially in areas like Rafah, pose a grave risk of leading to mass casualties and further humanitarian disasters. The need for international intervention and a ceasefire is not just urgent; it is a matter of life and death for the people of Gaza. (UN Press) (UN OCHA – oPt) (Israel’s Continued Atrocities).
Netanyahu to Address US Congress
“We live in a world where non-existent images of imaginary beheaded Israeli children can help launch a genocidal war, but actual images of real-life beheaded Palestinian children don’t force the entire world to bring an immediate halt to that war.” Mehdi Hasan
Despite these atrocities, which have exhausted the world’s vocabulary to the point where no words are left to describe them, Speaker Mike Johnson sent a formal invitation to PM Benjamin Netanyahu, signed by all four Congressional leaders: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. He will undoubtedly receive a warm reception and many standing ovations.
“It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress,” US Senator Bernie Sanders said in his speech to Congress. “Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders stressed. Watch Sen. Sanders’ full speech here.
As you watch and listen to all the thunderous applause Netanyahu will receive from members of Congress in his address scheduled for July 24th, remember that the UN decided to add the IDF to its blacklist for its abuses against children in armed conflict. Remember that Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 15,500 Palestinian children and fueled widespread malnutrition. The IDF will be sharing this abominable distinction in the annual UN Secretary-General’s Report with groups like ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram.
As the bodies continue to pile up and the cries of those trapped under the rubble of Gaza grow fainter, those in the halls of power choose to offer such a platform to a war criminal.
The Automation of War
The intense suffering of Gaza’s population is a moral indictment of our times, a harrowing reminder of the cost of Israel’s long history of impunity. The need for a concerted global effort to end this cycle of violence and hold perpetrators accountable has never been more urgent. The Palestinian people and their children, as well as people around the world and their children, deserve nothing less.
Max Chandler-Mather, a member of the Australian Greens and representative for the Division of Griffith since May 2022, reminded in a recent speech that the CEO of Elbit Systems remarked on the growing interest in their weapons, attributing this interest to their operational use in Gaza. He continued by saying, “Every time Israel massacred civilians, every time they burn children alive, they look around the world and wait for the consequences, and none come from governments like Australia. That’s why they know they can get away with it.”
Imagine what the future of warfare will look like if this brutality is allowed to continue without the perpetrators bearing any consequences, the use of AI in warfare to select their targets as we’ve read on Project Lavender, will only exacerbate the horrors.
The normalization of targeting civilians and safe zones, the acceptance of using overwhelming force against defenseless populations, and the merciless killing of children all lead us down a path where the rules of war and basic humanity are eroded beyond recognition. (EL PAÍS English) (+972 Magazine) (The Debrief).
The impunity granted to those who commit war crimes only emboldens others to follow suit, leading to a future where warfare is governed not by the rules of engagement and the discipline of international laws, but by the ruthlessness of “might makes right.” This dystopian vision of future conflicts is one where those who possess the weapons can swallow up the rest of us in a magnanimous blaze of fire and death, consuming our families and our futures. Civilians become mere collateral damage in a world where the ends justify using all inhumane, grotesque, and barbaric means.
Active Engagement: An End to the Death and Destruction
“We have to stream ourselves live holding decapitated children and skulls hoping the world can stop this, yet it’s been 238 days and the atrocities of the Israeli occupation forces are just getting worse.” Hossam Shabat, one of the few remaining journalists in Northern Gaza
By continuing to share these stories and amplifying the cries for help, we contribute to a collective demand for justice that continues to get louder as long as there are those who insist there should be no red lines for Israel.
We share because commenting and sharing are the first steps towards raising awareness, because we don’t want to live in a world where children carry and bury other children or where they have to gather scattered pieces of human beings from the street to prevent them from being eaten by dogs. We share because the voices for peace and against the occupation around the world could save countless lives.
It’s about keeping the world’s attention focused on the injustices. It’s about reminding those who were betting that people will eventually simply forget and drift off into a cloud of self-indulgent consumerism that we are watching—every single hour of every single day. We refuse to let these war crimes be ignored, and we demand accountability for every war crime and every innocent life killed in cold blood and without remorse.
Annie Lennox posted on X: “Dear friends, if you posted about Gaza and Rafah this week for the first time, please don’t just jump on a trend. It’s vital that you engage fully if you want the death and destruction to end. Email your representative and demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Many countries around the world are gearing up for elections – make your voice (and your
vote!) heard. It takes less than a minute to find your representative’s email address online.”
Lennox’s plea is a powerful reminder that passive observation is not enough and that active engagement are essential. The path to justice and peace is paved with the voices of those who refuse to stand by and watch.
And if you are still wondering why you should speak up for justice, I’ll leave you with this testimony from the Rafah Massacre:
“I left my children playing in the tent. I hugged them as it felt like the last hug. I left to cook them something to eat. I came back panicking as I heard the airstrikes. I found my six children that couldn’t fit in the tent. They burnt and became ash. I carried the six in my arm as if it were a handful of sand. I continued hugging and kissing them. My six children, my world, they became the size of a handful of sand.”
Art for Muriel’s Blog is created by Artist Mariam Beirouty
