Airstrikes pounded Gaza City overnight, leaving 11 dead and at least 45 wounded, according to local medics. The Israeli Defence Forces claim the targets were command centres buried beneath residential blocks. But sources on the ground paint a different picture. They talk of entire families wiped out and children's bodies pulled from rubble.
The UK Foreign Office issued a carefully worded statement calling for 'restraint' and 'protection of civilians'. But this is the same language we've heard for decades. It means nothing. It changes nothing.
Uncovered documents from the Ministry of Defence show Britain sold £300 million worth of weapons components to Israel last year. Components that ended up in the very jets now dropping bombs. The minister who signed off? Now attending private briefings with the Israeli ambassador.
The money trail doesn't stop there. Charities registered in London are funnelling donations through shell companies in Cyprus. Some of that cash is finding its way to settlements in the West Bank. I've seen the bank records. I've spoken to the accountants who process the transfers. They know what's happening. They just don't want to talk about it.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the dead are being buried in mass graves because the morgues are full. The hospitals are running on generators with fuel that could run out any day. The UN says 1.9 million people have been displaced. That's nearly the entire population.
So when the UK demands restraint, what exactly are they demanding? Restraint from a military that has killed over 30,000 people in six months? Restraint from a government that has cut off water, food and electricity? Or restraint from themselves? Because the only people showing restraint are the ones refusing to look at their own complicity.
I've been covering conflicts for 20 years. I've seen the same pattern play out in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Yemen. The rhetoric is always the same. The civilian casualties are always 'regrettable'. The demands for restraint are always ignored. And the arms dealers always get paid.
This is not about Hamas. This is not about security. This is about power. Unaccountable, blood-soaked power. And until we start following the money instead of the flags, nothing will change.
