Gaza’s blood stains not only the hands of Israel, the U.S., and the West — but also those of 2 billion Muslims who remain silent witnesses.

Israel bombed three schools-turned-shelters, intensifying attacks across Gaza City and ordering residents to evacuate. Eyewitnesses report that the Israeli army is sending booby-trapped vehicles into neighborhoods and detonating them remotely.

The colonization of Palestine is not an anomaly in the liberal global order but its most glaring indictment. It exposes the hypocrisy of an international system that decries colonialism while institutionalizing and legitimizing it.

A group of Civil Defense and Palestinian Red Crescent crews in Gaza disappeared when they went to Rafah on a rescue mission. A week later, the bodies of 15 first responders were found dead and buried in the sand by the Israeli army.

For Palestinians in Gaza, this Eid was supposed to be a symbol of resilience and hope after months of war. But Israel’s renewed attack, which broke the ceasefire, has crushed even our smallest dreams.

We had just begun rebuilding our lives when Israel shattered the Gaza ceasefire. Now we are once again on the edge of death and I can only ask, Why are we not allowed to survive?

Driving through Gaza for the first time since the war started, nothing was recognizable anymore. But Gaza was still there, making me realize that it was stronger than the war. It will still be there once the darkness passes.

The voices of Palestinians who protested against Hamas in Gaza are not only a reminder of the unbearable suffering that has been inflicted upon them, but also of the fact that those subjected to that suffering are an entire people, and not Hamas.

Anti-Hamas protests this week in Gaza reflect widespread Palestinian desperation amid the Israeli genocide. The figures behind the protests might also indicate that external actors are now seeking to exploit Gaza’s pain for political gain.

The protests in Gaza calling for Hamas to step down are fueled by a desire for certainty — that if Hamas simply surrenders, Israel’s genocide will stop. The tragedy is that these cries will go unheard, or even worse, will further fuel the war machine.