Gaza and the West Bank:
War Against Palestinians

Sep 15, 2025

This article is translated from the September 12 issue #2980 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the revolutionary workers group of that name active in France.

The Israeli army has stepped up its operations against Gaza City in an effort to take full control of it. On September 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened its residents and told them: “Leave now.”

More than one million Palestinians live in Gaza City. To force them to flee, the Israeli army systematically targets all homes previously spared from bombardment, particularly buildings higher than 20 stories. In three days after September 5, three high-rises were completely destroyed. Their residents were warned only shortly before and had to urgently evacuate.

According to a Palestinian rescue organization, five buildings of more than seven floors and more than 350 tents were bombed in just three days, leaving nearly 8,000 people homeless. “Every day, we receive dozens of injured people from these bombings, which occur almost every hour and every minute,” said the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

According to the Israeli military administration, some 70,000 Palestinians have already fled the city. But the vast majority of residents find themselves trapped in the ruins without any way to carry their belongings, despite the bombings. Many do not have vehicles. Truckers demand as much as $2,300 or more to drive to the so-called Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone set up by the Israeli army in the south. But there is no space for more tents there, no water, no sanitation, and no food aid in the “humanitarian zone”—and no more security than in the rest of the Gaza Strip.

Officially, the Israeli offensive was not launched by September 10, but the number of Palestinian victims rose nonetheless, victims of bombs, bullets and famine. According to the U.N., famine affects one fifth of Gaza because of the continued blockade.

The death toll is rising on the Israeli side, too. Four soldiers were killed on September 8 by Hamas fighters on the outskirts of Gaza City. In East Jerusalem that same day, six Israelis were killed in a shooting attack at a bus station.

The fact that the two Palestinians behind the attack were from the West Bank is a reminder that another war has been raging for months in this territory occupied by Israel. Since January, the Israeli army has stormed refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams, displacing their residents. Also on September 8, Israeli soldiers killed two 14-year-old boys trying to return to Jenin. According to a U.N. agency, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have died in the West Bank since October 2023, victims of the army and settlers.

Following the Jerusalem attack, far-right Israeli Defense Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared, “The Palestinian Authority [the Palestinian government in the West Bank] should disappear from the map.” To hold the support of ultranationalist factions, Netanyahu is adopting their policy of annexation and total war. The Israeli army bombed Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas leaders who participated in recent negotiations.

This policy of constant escalation would not be possible without the unwavering support of American leaders. Like Biden before him, Trump has in the Israeli state a defender of the imperialist order in the region, with total impunity.