The genocide has moved into a new, critical phase defined by legal recognition and escalating extremity. While the relentless daily killings and the massive destruction of infrastructure tragically continue, the key shift in the second year is that the scale of the crime became too extreme for key allies to sustain their silence.
The most significant change is that the “genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip” is no longer a political accusation, but an unambiguous, accepted legal position. Reports by the UN Human Rights Council now explicitly state this, lending historic weight to the reality we have documented. The current phase, therefore, is one where the crime is being formally recognized and legally documented as genocide while simultaneously escalating to include widespread famine, with millions now experiencing both. This level of criminality is what has ultimately begun to erode the political shield in the West.
What does life currently look like for the average citizen of Gaza?
Life for the average citizen of Gaza is defined by a brutal, unceasing reality of genocide and famine. They are enduring the slaughter of thousands of innocent people, mostly women and children, in images that are simply impossible to bear.
Beyond the bombings, Gazans are subject to an extensive system of mass incarceration. The vast majority of detainees—including medical workers, teachers, and children — are classified as “unlawful combatants,” allowing for indefinite imprisonment. Their daily existence is one of continuous Palestinian sumoud (steadfastness) and resilience in the face of an extermination campaign that has rendered traditional political structures virtually irrelevant.
Large swaths of the western population react to this with intensifying protest. Have popular mobilization and BDS in the imperial center gained any concessions?
Absolutely, the popular mobilization has gained significant and measurable concessions. This grassroots action has been the true vanguard of solidarity and a primary catalyst for political change in the imperial center.
Concessions include the following points:
Forcing Policy Shifts: In Spain, every major step taken by the government—including joining the ICJ case, banning weapons sales, and prohibiting the use of ports for Israeli military fuel—has been a direct response to the demands of organized civil society.
Labor Action: Italian dockworkers led a nationwide strike against arms shipments to Israel, refusing to be complicit and signaling the return of unions as political actors.
Changing Diplomatic Posture: In Australia, the government’s increasingly critical stance and its signature on the New York Declaration were directly related to the mass mobilizations that called for sanctions and an end to arms trade.
These actions, including economic pressure through boycott initiatives, are actively eroding the pro-Israel common denominator in Western politics.
Some countries of the Western bloc, such as Spain, Ireland and Slovenia, are starting to boycott Israel, while others like France and the UK are formally recognizing the State of Palestine. Do any of these acts have measurable consequences, or are they a performative solution to the fact that it is increasingly difficult to ignore the genocide and Western complicity in it?
The actions of countries like Spain, Ireland and Slovenia are having measurable, strategic consequences that go beyond being merely performative. This is a critical development because any fundamental shift in Europe helps to dismantle the political and economic shield Israel has long enjoyed.
The consequences are clear and can be divided to two issues, one legal leverage: Spain’s move to formally join South Africa’s ICJ case provides powerful legal foundation for accountability efforts; and two, concrete sanctions: The ban on weapons sales and the prohibition on ships carrying fuel for the Israeli military from using Spanish ports are quantifiable, tangible sanctions.
While formal recognition of Palestine can often be a distracting tactic used to avoid punitive action against Israel, the comprehensive approach of Spain — driven by civil society and leading to meaningful legal and military restrictions — is operating on a different political wavelength and is a catalyst for isolating Israel.
The late reaction is not attributed to an explicit, planned strategy for a final solution, but rather to the structural and political factors that shielded Israel for decades, making it extremely difficult for a shift to occur until the crimes became undeniable. The delay was rooted in:
One, systemic shielding: For decades, European support provided a political and economic shield, allowing Israel to operate outside of international law.
Two, political realignment: The rise of far-right politics in many countries, such as Italy after the fall of the Soviet Union, led to the embrace of Israel’s most extremist politicians, moving these countries away from balanced foreign policies.
Three, media complicity: Media outlets in some countries were committed to the Israeli hasbara line, criminalizing Palestinians and absolving Israel.
It took the extreme criminality of the genocide to finally shatter this dynamic. The shift is happening now because the Israeli extermination campaign has rendered the old politics of neutrality irrelevant and revealed the full extent of the criminal actions.
How does Trump’s “plan” for stopping the so-called war fit into the story? Can you comment on it, does it even offer anything new?
Palestinians have no reason to trust Trump’s proposal, especially since it has already been amended by Israel and endorsed by such untrustworthy figures as Jared Kushner and Tony Blair.
Essentially, this plan is a rehash of ideas put forth by the previous Biden administration. Its goal is to secure an Israeli victory in exchange for slowing down the pace of the genocide — without offering a single guarantee that Israel would honor its commitments.
Furthermore, it touches upon matters that lie beyond the mandate of any single Palestinian group. While Hamas and other resistance groups have the right to maneuver and negotiate on matters directly related to captives and other specific issues, they have no right to make decisions concerning the national cause of the Palestinian people. Allowing international forces into Gaza, agreeing to a ceasefire that enables the US and Israel to administer Gaza as if it were separate from the West Bank, and other critical matters lie beyond the mandate of any single Palestinian group, regardless of their sacrifices and credibility among a large sector of Palestinian society.
Many sympathizers with the Palestinian cause still think a two-state solution is the ideal for long term peace. Can you, in short, tell us why this line of thinking is erroneous and what would be an actual, just alternative for the Palestinian people?
Focusing solely on statehood is insufficient and can be a distracting tactic if it fails to address accountability. The primary focus of the current struggle is on holding Israel accountable under international law for its genocide and war crimes, and fighting for the very soul of humanity to prevent the normalization of such crimes. A just future must, by necessity, arise from the success of this struggle for accountability.
What is the most realistic scenario for liberation to be achieved – Palestinian armed struggle, a wider Islamic coalition sparked by the recent attack on Qatar, increasing pressure on Western governments?
The most realistic scenario for liberation is a synergy between Palestinian sumoud and profound international isolation of Israel.
I maintain that it is ultimately the Palestinian people and their steadfastness and resilience that will defeat the Israeli stratagem.
This resilience is the driving force behind the intricate global process that will ultimately lead to Israel’s profound isolation on the international stage. This isolation is achieved through the success of civil society in increasing pressure on Western governments and leveraging the legal system.
There are a lot of nominally pro-Palestinian progressives who stop short of supporting armed resistance to the Israeli regime because of ideological differences with the people materially challenging the colonial system. Could you explain, bearing in mind the exponential rise in fascism in the West, why true struggle for a free Palestine should be seen as crucial on the left.
The true struggle for a free Palestine must be seen as absolutely crucial on the left because it is fundamentally a fight against the normalization of fascism and state-sponsored violence globally.
Resistance in Palestine in all of its manifestation is not only a right, but a natural response to a century of colonialism and settler colonialism. If there are some on the left who are unable to fathom the relationship between the two subjects, then their understanding of the realities in Palestine is lacking, and goes against the very moral and ideological position of the left’s anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and support of liberation movements.
The stakes are not limited to Palestine. If Israel’s actions succeed in normalizing genocide in the 21st century, this horrific crime could become a sanctioned political strategy for tyrants and regimes worldwide. The future of global justice hangs in the balance. This makes the Palestinian cause the central front in the global fight against tyranny and the extreme right.
How can the readers help?
Readers can help by amplifying and participating in the civil society actions that are demonstrably forcing policy shifts and driving Israel’s isolation.
Join the massive grassroots mobilization in your country to demand sanctions and an end to all arms trade with Israel.
Back the divestment and boycott initiatives that utilize economic pressure as a form of political advocacy.
Use the legal findings of genocide to pressure your government and legal entities to take independent action, including filing complaints against officials complicit in supporting the war.
Aid the solidarity flotillas and similar initiatives, which are crucial expressions of international solidarity doing the work that governments have failed to do.
