Israel’s “Excuse of the Week” Campaign

Al‑Hindi says the strikes never stop, only the pretexts do

Islamic Jihad deputy secretary-general, Mohammad al‑Hindi, has been calling this out for years, and Israel keeps proving him right. Back in late 2025 he said Israel was dragging its feet on any real deal, refusing to honor commitments while mediators ran themselves into the ground trying to hold the whole thing together. He made it clear then that Palestinian weapons were a red line. They weren’t handing them over to anyone, least of all the occupation.

By February 2026 he was even blunter. Resistance groups were united on keeping their arms. They were showing “flexibility” with mediators, sure, but disarmament was never on the table. Why would it be? Israel was still pounding Gaza like the ceasefire was a suggestion, not an agreement.

And the numbers make the point for him. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, with over 171,000 injured. Even Israeli officials finally muttered that the death toll was “broadly accurate,” putting it around 70,000 without counting the missing or the bodies still under rubble.

Then came the “ceasefire” on October 10, 2025. Since that magical date, more than 550 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes, including 100 children. One child a day. Some ceasefire.

This week alone, on February 4, 2026, Israel hit Khan Younis and Gaza City, killing 24 people, mostly women and children. Two infants. A paramedic who ran toward the blast instead of away from it. Israel’s explanation? Hamas “violated” the truce by surfacing from a tunnel or firing at troops. So naturally the response is tanks and airstrikes on tents and apartments full of starving families. Last Saturday it was another 30-plus dead in yet another “response.” Al‑Hindi’s line sums it up:

The killing is constant, the excuses optional.

From Israel’s side, it’s all about “enforcing” this Yellow Line ceasefire, holding 53 percent of Gaza while insisting every strike is just neutralizing a threat. Netanyahu’s government is openly debating whether to treat Gaza like Lebanon, bombing from afar to stop rearmament, or to go all the way and reoccupy the strip if Hamas doesn’t disarm.

Meanwhile, aid groups are being squeezed out. By late February, Israel had expelled MSF and others for refusing to hand over lists of Palestinian staff. They called it “security.” Everyone else called it what it was: another pretext to choke off help. Rafah crossing is barely cracked open for 50 patients a day. No cargo. No real relief.

And Palestinians? They’re trapped. Bombed for surfacing from tunnels to eat. Accused of “breaches” for trying to stay alive. Al‑Hindi described people emerging because they’re starving, only to be targeted and then blamed for it. Israel calls it a violation, then bombs tents full of displaced families as the “response.”

The script changes. The blood doesn’t.

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