The slaughter in Rafah and Israel’s moral nadir

On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza city of Rafah ignited a fire that killed dozens of civilians. The carnage was horrific even by the bloody standards set by Israel’s war: An emergency doctor on the ground told NPR that it was “one of the most horrific massacres to have occurred in recent days here in Rafah and across the Gaza Strip.”

The strike, and the world’s horrified reaction to it, underscored how disastrous Israel’s entire war has become. 

The war is disastrous first and foremost for the Palestinian people. Tens of thousands are dead — an accurate death count is currently impossible — and many others are suffering immensely from injuries, lack of food, and inadequate health care. It is a humanitarian nightmare on an unimaginable scale. 

But it is also an increasingly obvious disaster for Israel, whose current government of right-wing fanatics have pushed a self-defeating approach to the war that damages Israel’s long-term prospects for security and stability.