I do not believe that the genocide has ended. What we are seeing is a continuation of the same process in a different form. Most Israelis are largely unaware that the violence continues. Ongoing air strikes, the destruction of schools, and civilian deaths — often including women and children — are either not reported or are framed almost exclusively in terms of “terrorists.” This dynamic is not new. Even before October 7, Gaza was treated as something distant — an issue best ignored, to be handled by others, without demanding sustained attention or moral engagement from Israeli society.

…

It is difficult to measure acceleration in this regard. What matters more is the process itself. An hour away from where I live, roughly two million people are living amid a humanitarian catastrophe. Most have lost their homes and livelihoods. Hunger and deprivation are widespread. Yet daily life in Israel feels normal.

Even closer to Gaza, life can appear normal as well, punctuated occasionally by explosions — air strikes, demolitions, or detonations whose nature is often unclear. Unless someone actively chooses to pay attention, it is remarkably easy to forget that any of this is happening. As a historian, I find this deeply instructive. It resembles situations I have read about for years: people living in close proximity to mass suffering, later claiming they did not know. The reality is that not knowing, or choosing not to know, is easier than we like to admit.