By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed on Monday to rename Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip to the “War of Revival.”
The proposal was made by the Israeli premier during a government meeting held to mark the first anniversary of the war that has killed nearly 42,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured 97,300 others since last year.
“This is the war for our existence—the ‘War of Revival.’ This is what I would like to call the war officially,” Netanyahu told his ministers.
The Israeli army has code-named the Gaza war “Iron Swords.”
"You can change as many names as you want, you will not change the fact that on your watch the most terrible disaster happened to the people of Israel since the establishment of the state,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on X.
“There will be no revival until all the abducted and displaced people return to their homes,” he added. “This government is not a government of revival; it is a government of guilt.”
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 42,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 97,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.
A new opinion poll on Monday showed that 53% of Israelis believe that it’s high time to end the Gaza war.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio