On February 28, 2026, the last thing most of the now one hundred and sixty-eight dead elementary schoolgirls saw was a fleet of missiles fired by the US or Israel. Their coloring books were painted red, later retrieved by parents forced to identify their newly dismembered children.
Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Israel’s cutthroat, merciless attacks on Palestinian children during the Gaza genocide – a campaign that has fostered a climate of impunity among the upper echelons of Israel’s government, who appear to believe they can evade punishment for countless war crimes against innocent children. The estimated death toll of Palestinian children since October 2023 is a staggering 20,000, according to UNICEF. Twenty thousand innocent lives – children punished for the circumstances of their birth, for an identity they did not choose, for a conflict they did not create.
This, sadly, is what we’ve come to expect from modern-day Israel – some of the most heinous war crimes witnessed since the early 2000s. Schools and children are heavily protected under international humanitarian law, yet those protections seemingly never apply to Israel. The strike on this elementary school, filled with wide-eyed children eager to learn, crosses a universal moral boundary – because war does not suspend morality. In a just world, Israel would answer for this inhumane attack. But this world is dark, godless, and depraved.
This comes shortly after the IDF shot a fourteen-year-old Palestinian boy, Jad Jadallah, last winter – as reported by the BBC – and left him to bleed out, even blocking emergency vehicles from reaching him. Anyone could argue that Israel has been intentionally targeting children in its attacks.
Each of the one hundred and sixty-eight schoolgirls (ages 7–12) at Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls’ Elementary School had a future – a family, friends, dreams, creativity, and innocence. Last week, they were pulled from the rubble; their small bodies shattered by missiles that brought nothing but destruction and despair.
The longer Israel and the US are treated as above the law, the more tumultuous the world will become – especially in the Middle East. It is time for real accountability for Israel and Netanyahu before it is too late. This situation has long been volatile, but we are now on a one-way flight to the point of no return – where it becomes acceptable, perhaps even encouraged, to bomb elementary schools, starve children, and put bullets into skulls that should be filled with toys, dreams, and love.
To learn more about Josh, visit joshbazzle.com.
