The Israeli outlet Haaretz has a new article out titled “Israeli Defence Officials: Gov’t Pushing Aside Hostage Deal, Eyeing Gaza Annexation,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Anonymous senior Israeli officials are telling the press that the government has abandoned any notion of securing a hostage deal, and is now working toward “the gradual annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip.”

Haaretz’s sources say the full siege and other war crimes we’ve been hearing about in northern Gaza were put into effect without much planning in order to force the civilian population southward to avoid starvation and extermination, and that the Israeli military is moving forward with the operation despite knowing that it will probably get hostages in the area killed.

So there you have it. After a full year, they’re finally beginning to admit what this has always been about.

This was never about freeing hostages. It was never about getting rid of Hamas. It was never about Israel’s “right to defend itself”. It was never about mass rapes, beheaded babies, or babies cooked in ovens. It was........

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