Health workers protest for Palestine last year (Pic: @KreaseChan on X)
Last week, Israel announced a new phase of its genocidal assault on Gaza.
As Israel bombed Fatima Bint Asad School in northern Jabalia, murdering 17 people, its forces are establishing a “sustained presence” in Gaza.
“Every day we are witnessing horrible attacks. Every day Israel simply plays with our lives,” Palestinian journalist Alaa told Socialist Worker. “We are not safe. We are watched and controlled daily. By all means, this is a genocide.”
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu made clear the plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, saying that the Palestinian people “will be moved, for its own protection”. He said, “We’ll call up reserves to come, hold territory—we’re not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward.
Alongside Israel’s deliberate starvation of Palestinians, it has once again proved its only intention is the complete annihilation of Palestine.
But Israel’s new plan is causing a rift with its primary backer, the United States. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said, “Israel is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made.”
Witkoff said that under Netanyahu’s leadership, the “window of opportunity” is closing. But the US is not looking for an opportunity to end Israel’s genocide of Palestinians—it is seeking an opportunity to exert its own control.
Donald Trump’s previous plan—the “Witkoff proposal”—was a straightforward attempt for the US to seize control of Gaza and carry out ethnic cleansing.
With Trump now set to visit Israel, his administration is keen to push another proposal to establish US control. But the US’s wider dominance of the region could be destabilised by Israel’s ongoing offensive.
One Israeli security advisor said, “Once we have begun the intensified operation, we won’t agree to quickly halt it. Hamas will not determine the timeline.”
Alaa said, “Israeli officials say that we are guilty of what is happening, they put the responsibility of this awful situation on us. What nonsense. They want to justify the genocide they are committing by any means. We are the victims, what an upside down standard.”
Netanyahu has constantly violated ceasefire agreements, and escalated Israel’s genocidal offensives, to appease the far right in his cabinet. Right wing security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Saturday, “Israel’s fate must remain in its own hands, not in the hands of the Americans or anyone else.”
Israel is determined to finish its plan for Gaza—with or without US support. Both Israel’s Zionist project, and the US’s imperialist vision in the Middle East mean ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Breaking the West’s support for Israel is imperative.
Since Israel began its brutal genocide in Palestine, the Houthi rebels in Yemen have fought in solidarity against Israel and its Western backers.
The resistance group has an estimated 350,000 fighters. It has attacked over 250 ships in the Red Sea linked to the United States and Israel.
When Israel laid siege to Gaza in March, the Houthis retaliated by attacking Israeli ships.
Their campaign has caused significant disruption to US imperialism, recently sinking a US fighter jet.
Yemen has been the target of both US and Israeli attacks. Since mid-March the US has murdered at least 250 people in Yemen.
But US attacks on Yemen, and Houthi attacks on US ships, will now cease. The pressure the Houthis have put on global capitalism has pushed Trump into organising a ceasefire with the Houthis.
And to stop the US’s indiscriminate attacks on Yemini citizens and civilian infrastructure, the Houthis have agreed.
But the Houthis will not cease their attacks on Israel until the Zionist state lifts its siege on Gaza. Last week, Israel bombed the Hodeidah Port and Sanaa Airport.
Resistance in the Middle East to Israel’s project is essential, and should be supported.
Health secretary Wes Streeting is trying to silence health workers standing against Israel’s genocide.
NHS workers will be told to stop wearing their uniforms to Palestine demonstrations. And displays of solidarity in the workplace will not be tolerated.
But workers are standing firm against intimidation. Maya, a nurse in west London, is facing potential disciplinary consequences for wearing a “Freedom for Palestine” badge. “It’s such a double standard,” she told Socialist Worker. “There’s no action taken against people wearing poppies, or badges with Ukrainian flags on them.”
This isn’t Maya’s first battle. Last year, management investigated Maya and a colleague and banned them from their work building for four months.
They set up a WhatsApp group in May 2024 to discuss what kind of actions staff thought were appropriate. Management said this would be “distressing for Jewish and Israeli children”, but the case has since been dropped.
She said, “People in workplaces need to talk about what’s going on in Palestine. We’re a children’s mental health service and the people we support are having to deal with what they’re witnessing happening before their eyes.
“I had a referral from a school where a child had been shouting ‘Free Palestine’ over and over again in the playground. This child had lost a hundred family members in Gaza.”
Maya said, “It is our responsibility as health professionals to not shy away from what is happening.
“There is more support now because we fought back and won. It gives people strength and confidence that collective action can achieve something.”
Streeting’s repression makes the Palestine Workplace Day of Action this Thursday even more important. Go to stopwar.org.uk for details.
Names have been changed. Support NHS workers at tinyurl.com/NHScensor
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