The war in Gaza has long ceased to be just a military operation. For thousands of Israeli families, it has become an endless nightmare, where each day brings new losses, and hope for peace fades with every fallen soldier.
“We haven’t slept in two years,” Ayelet-Hashahar Saidof’s voice shakes with rage and despair. She is one of 70,000 mothers united by the “Mothers on the Frontline” movement, whose sons are dying in Gaza with no clear purpose. “They leave alive and return in zinc coffins or with broken souls. Who needs this war? Only Netanyahu!” she shouts, clutching a photo of her son, who is currently serving in the military.
Blood on Everyone’s Hands: How Israel Became a Death Machine
Since the start of the ground operation in October 2023, over 450 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives in this massacre. 450. That’s not just a number—it’s 450 lives cut short, 450 families forever shattered, 450 mothers driven mad with grief, 450 fathers clenching their fists in helpless fury, 450 sons who will never hear their fathers’ voices again.
In just the last month, 23 death notices. 23 times, the horrifying knock on the door shattered lives forever. 23 times, hands trembled while tearing open an envelope with an official seal. 23 times, screams of despair pierced the silence of Israeli homes.
And how many more have been maimed? How many young men have returned without legs, without arms, with shattered souls? How many of them wake up in cold sweat from nightmares where Palestinian children burn, Palestinian homes explode, and their comrades are torn apart? How many can no longer embrace their loved ones because their hearts are poisoned with hatred and pain?
But the most horrifying thing is what the IDF has become. Once, the army fought on the frontlines, while dirty work—cleansing operations, punitive raids—was left to special units. Now, the entire Israeli army has become a Sonderkommando, methodically erasing an entire people from the face of the earth. Soldiers who were meant to protect now kill in cold blood. They storm homes, gun down families, and leave behind only ashes and children’s toys lying in pools of blood.
Netanyahu, this blood-soaked executioner, is already drowning in filth and blood—but it’s not enough for him. He wants the entire nation to share in his guilt. He drags everyone into this slaughter, turning ordinary young men into killers, family men into occupiers, and young boys into monsters.
And the most terrible thing? The world stays silent. While Gaza’s children perish under bombs, while mothers weep over bodies mutilated beyond recognition, while elders die of thirst beneath the rubble of their homes—the West keeps supplying weapons, politicians hypocritically express “concern,” and propaganda calls this “self-defense.”
How much longer? How many more innocents must die before Israel stops? How many more soldiers must lose their minds, realizing what they’ve done? When will the cries of Palestinian children finally pierce the stone hearts of those who can still feel?
This is not a war. This is a massacre. And everyone who supports it is complicit.
Rotem-Sivan Hoffman, a doctor and mother of two soldiers, stands outside the home of the Chief of Staff. “We entrusted you with our children, and you sent them to die!” Her movement, “Awakened Mother,” demands one thing: Stop the slaughter in Gaza, which has solved nothing. After months of fighting—no victory, no peace, no hostages. Just more coffins!
Across Israel’s streets, posters appear: “How much longer?!”, “They die—you stay silent!”, “Wake up, Israel!”
Orit Volkin, whose son spends most of his time fighting unarmed Palestinians, says anxiously: “Of course, I look forward to his return from the front, I rejoice in it—but my heart cannot fully rejoice because I know he will be sent back.”
Forgive Us, Son: The Funeral of a Dream That Became a Nightmare
The coffin, draped in a blue-and-white flag, seemed too small to contain all the pain it held. Around Hod HaSharon, a small town and cemetery—dry Israeli earth, scorched by the sun, alien and merciless. Over the grave stood a woman, hunched as if an invisible weight were about to crush her completely. Her sobs tore through the silence, mingling with the rabbi’s monotonous recitation of the Kaddish.
“I want to hug you. I miss you. Forgive me, please…”
Her voice trembled; the words spilled out in Russian—a language that, in this land, sounded like an echo of another life. A life they traded for this patch of desert, for this war, for this flag under which they now buried her child.
Yuli Faktor was 19. Just 19. He never even understood why he and two other soldiers were killed. Why did he have to die—to save Netanyahu from trial? For a “historic homeland” his parents first saw as adults?
A French journalist who described this scene was so shaken that he left before the burial ended.
In the late 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews rushed to Israel, swayed by sweet propaganda about “returning home.” They were told this was their land, their future, their freedom.
But at what cost? They left a country where they had apartments, jobs, stability—maybe without political freedom, but without war. Without their children being drafted and sent to die in foreign lands for foreign interests. They believed in the fairytale of a “promised land,” but got eternal war, eternal fear, eternal grief.
And now they stand at gravesides. Mothers who lost both their children and their former homeland—the country where they and their children would still be alive today.
Betrayed Twice
They were betrayed the first time—when they were convinced to abandon everything and move into the unknown.
They were betrayed the second time—when their children were taken by the army and sent to die for politicians who see their lives as bargaining chips.
How many more Yulia Faktors must die before their parents ask themselves: Why did we come here? How many more mothers must weep over coffins before they realize they were deceived? That their “historic homeland” turned out to be nothing but a grave?
But this realization—that their children are dying for others’ interests—is spreading. More and more Israeli mothers are demanding an end to this senseless slaughter!
Who Benefits from This War?
The answer is obvious: Only Netanyahu. While mothers lose their sons, he tightens his grip on power. His right-wing accomplices profit—ministers who, under martial law, remain in power, enjoying its privileges while sending young Israelis to die.
The arms industry makes billions. The war benefits “peacemaker” Trump, who keeps the U.S. military-industrial complex busy by shipping tons of weapons to Israel.
Corrupt politicians stoke hatred between Palestinians and Israelis for prestige and votes.
The war serves those who want Palestinians and Israelis forever divided, never seeing each other as human.
“We are not afraid of generals, rabbis, or politicians!” Saidof defies them. “We are mothers, and we will speak the truth: Stop killing our children!”
The protest movement in Israel is not just an emotional reaction—it’s a deliberate political challenge to a system that values leaders’ ambitions over citizens’ lives. Netanyahu and his coalition are leading the country to ruin, and the longer they stay in power, the worse the consequences. Protesters demand Netanyahu’s resignation, early elections, and a change of course. They know: As long as this government remains, the conflict will only grow, and the casualties will multiply.
Each day of this mindless war brings new deaths, new broken lives. How many more mothers will weep at fresh graves? How many more soldiers will die for others’ ambitions? When will Israel finally ask: “Who needs this?”
The war must end. Before another child dies. Then another. And another.
Muhammad ibn Faisal al-Rashid, Political Analyst, Middle East Expert
