The Israeli dagger is notorious for not differentiating between the civilians and the militants. As the bloodied pink bow of a five-year-old Alaa Qadoum made its way back to her grief-stricken father, the bestiality streak has managed to break (for the millionth time) the brief hiatus of precious little peace. Israel, in the meantime, appears quite confident as it harps to the tunes of targeting military targets. Contrary to its claims, the Palestinian Health Ministry has confirmed that the bombs dropped by Israeli fighter jets on the coastal enclave have so far taken 12 lives. Another 80 have been wounded. Jerusalem’s apathy towards the bloodshed appears from having followed the protocol of “warning” residents before flattening the targeted two-storey structure amid the bustling Gaza City. Those impacted, however, bemoan how they were not warned with the said phone calls but the fumes of rockets. The latest round of violence has also shut down the only power plant in Gaza and the hapless citizenry is forced to scamper for private generators enduring the scorching summer heat. There is nothing out of the ordinary for people walking on the street paying the price of the slightest blow to Israel’s ego. The “imminent threats” broadcasted to the entire world have already succeeded in getting support from the likes of the UK and the US, which believe PM Yair Lapid has the constitutional obligation to pound Gaza howsoever he wants in the name of existential security. That the “right ti defend itself” prompted retaliatory attacks from the other side, pushing Israel and Gaza into the second day of yet another seething conflict is conveniently left in the footnotes. Only a few months ago, Mr Lapid drew the ire of the entire Muslim world when he offered to conduct “a joint pathological investigation” into the much-talked-about killing of renowned journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. While recognition of how the household name was trapped within crossfire despite wearing a visible press tag was, definitely, a positive development, those familiar with Israel’s obsession with obliterating facts and protecting perpetrators could not allow for one more erasure. The international uproar over snipers shooting at unarmed Palestinians at the Gaza fence did culminate in such a “self-proclaimed investigation. ” Quite expectedly, neither the foot soldiers nor the military advocate general was held to account for greenlighting these illegal operations. No matter how brilliantly Israel may hide under the cover of civilisation and shared ideals, it cannot stow away the very nature of its apartheid regime. Millions of Palestinians have been on the butcher’s block for far too long now and as the hope of freedom drains out of their eyes, the rest of the Muslim Brotherhood is comfortably perched upon the golden pedestal of new alliances and the modern world order. *