The US must do more to stop the war – and the imminent invasion of Rafah

Editorial: Joe Biden’s phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu may have prevented famine from taking hold on a biblical scale in Gaza – but without a ceasefire, and in the face of continued US sales of weapons to Israel, the White House must brace itself for the prospect of renewed bloodshed on a new front next week

Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be allowed to do whatever he likes in Rafah after Ramadan ends next week (Reuters)

The explanations thus far offered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the fatal drone attack that killed seven international aid workers are, to say the least, unsatisfactory. Absent the possibility that the aid workers were targeted simply because they were providing aid – which would be unthinkable, even for the wilder elements of the Israeli military – of course the incident was “a grave mistake” and a case of “mistaken identity”.

The IDF thought, apparently, that the occupants of the three vehicles were Hamas terrorists – but we are still none the wiser as to why such an assumption was made about travellers in a deconflicted zone.

Nor does that account for how, precisely, it came to happen – or who, exactly, was responsible. Thus far, two officers have been dismissed over the strikes, for alleged mishandling of critical information and violations of the army’s rules of engagement, though it is unclear at this time whether that will be the extent of their punishment. Perhaps this will become known in due course, as part of the “transparent” process.