A Gaza in Flames, a World in Solidarity

25 August 2025 | 11:14 CAT
2-minute read

As Israel moves forward with its plan to seize Gaza City and force its population south, the IOF have escalated attacks on the enclave’s biggest city.

Reports from the ground carry the lived reality behind the statistics: the story of shattered lives and broken neighbourhoods.

“The Israeli army [is] obliterating entire blocks in Gaza City and other regions in northern Gaza,” Moulana Ebrahim Moosa said in today’s Palestine Report on Radio Islam International.

The relentless assault, he explained, has triggered a renewed displacement crisis. Hundreds of families are now forced to flee or remain trapped, completely cut off from food and supplies. Gaza City — a de-facto capital of the besieged strip — is being attacked not just by conventional means, but through chilling innovations: “remote-controlled vehicles, robots … destroy buildings and … force Palestinians out of their homes.”

Over the weekend, reports surfaced of chemical-weapon-style attacks, with residents forced to soak masks in unknown liquids to ward off the foul odours. The explosions themselves thundered like volcanoes, shaking the very ground upon which Gaza’s people tread.

This is not isolated carnage. As he noted, Gaza remains under siege in Rafah, Khan Younis, and throughout northern areas. The advance seems designed to drive Palestinians deeper south into isolated zones, using drones and psychological warfare—announcing troop movements and releasing satellite photos—to terrorise civilians into submission.

Israeli military intelligence records show that by May 2025, 8 900 fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad had been killed, out of an estimated 53 000 total Palestinian deaths.

That means that “17 % of the total deaths were fighters … 83 % … would then actually be civilian death.” Human rights experts point out that such a ratio—where civilians represent over four-fifths of the casualties—is unprecedented in modern warfare.

Amid the bleak landscape in Gaza, waves of solidarity ripple worldwide. In Australia, the largest coordinated pro-Palestine protests in history swept through more than 40 cities. Organisers estimate up to 350 000 took to the streets, including around 50 000 in Brisbane, despite police estimates that put the city’s turnout closer to 10 000.

Speakers linked the surge to Australia’s growing awareness of the Gaza catastrophe. In Adelaide, for example, its largest pro-Palestine rally ever rallied protesters chanting “Sanctions, now” and condemning government complicity.

A growing wave of conscience is emerging, with many questioning Israel’s operation, which inflicts massive destruction yet shows no clear strategic objective and defies basic humanity.

“Even if one were to trust that Israeli figure of 8 900 fighters killed, that could be vastly exaggerated … they … remotely associate police officers … people are promoted to the rank of fighters after their death … ratio of civilian deaths … has only increased since May.”

Listen to the Palestine Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.