Despite a declared ceasefire and the return of hostages, large-scale killing has continued in Gaza. The war has become self-perpetuating, leaving Israel morally, politically and strategically diminished.

There was a dead horse at the site of the late January Israeli airstrike on Al-Mawasi, in southern Gaza. The sight was heartbreaking; its brown body was gaunt, and the bombing certainly put an end to its suffering, the suffering of a starving horse that had been put to hard labour in the Strip. When human beings groan, their beasts of burden groan even more. All around, plumes of smoke rose from the scraps of the tents where tens of thousands of miserable displaced people had found a refuge that turned out to be false. In vain, they had believed in the cease-fire; in vain, they thought they were in a safe area. On both counts, Israel deceived them.

The images from Gaza were horrific, as always: the mangled body of a woman being carried on a stretcher; a baby with a disfigured face being ventilated manually, likely in vain; bodies strewn on the ground and terrible crying in the background: a woman screaming in anguish at a corpse wrapped in a cheap, fuzzy blanket.

Already before first light Saturday, seven members of a family were killed in Muwasi, all of them terrorist infrastructure. The death toll later reached 31, including at least six children. It was one of the deadliest days of bombing since the cease-fire went into effect. Israel has killed 509 people in Gaza since the October 10 start of the cease-fire, according to the Palestinian health ministry there, which Israel now believes, officially, and this bloodbath is still not enough for it.

Neither Saturday’s strikes themselves nor their timing were accidental. Israel claimed they were in response to Hamas’ violation of the ceasefire. It takes extraordinary chutzpah to complain about Hamas violating the cease-fire after killing more than 500 Palestinians in Gaza and thinking that additional unrestrained killing of civilians is legitimate after a few gunmen emerged from a tunnel, but it’s impossible to ignore the proximity between Saturday’s killings and Sunday’s planned reopening of the Rafah crossing.

The reopening of the Gaza-Egypt border is supposed to mark a new beginning. Phase two of the American plan begins. Is that indeed the case? Israel will do all it can to sabotage it. Perhaps 30 deaths in one a day aren’t enough for that, but they provide a fitting backdrop for the “peace plan.” Hamas completed its part of the plan by releasing all the hostages, while Israel did not stop killing for even a single day.

It’s no longer only the bloodlust and the thirst for revenge that have not stopped since October 7. Now it’s the desire to disrupt Donald Trump’s plan, in order to return to war. Amos Harel reported in Haaretz Friday that the government’s policy is based on the hope that the Trump plan will crash and the US president will give Israel the green light to recapture Gaza. That’s what Israel wants.

The return of the body of the last hostage was supposed to mark the end of the most terrible war Israel has ever waged and the emergence of new hope. It was also the most unsuccessful war, at the end of which Israel’s situation was immeasurably worse than when it began. The return of the hostages and the sating of the desire for revenge were the only achievements Israel’s longest war brought the country. The damage, on the other hand, has piled up. The condition of Israel today is much more severe than that of Israel in 2023. Domestically and internationally, this is a different country, and its condition is worse.

Tragically, even those who understand the damage the war in Gaza has caused to Israel want more of it. Unbelievable. Like a gambler who has lost his fortune, the government wants another round. If force doesn’t work, use more force. But how much more force can be exerted on the devastated Strip?

This doesn’t seem to bother most Israelis. Israelis have never taken to the streets en masse in order to prevent another round of genocide.

Republished from HAARETZ on 1 February 2026