At least 140 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, a deadly escalation as Israel announces its readiness to launch a major new offensive in the besieged territory.

Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed more than 300 people since Thursday, Palestinian health officials reported, one of the deadliest periods of Israeli attacks since ceasefire negotiations broke down in March. The intensification of the bombing comes as Israel’s complete blockade of humanitarian aid has once again raised fears of famine in the territory.

Israel claimed the bombings were the initial stages of Operation “Gideon’s Chariots,” an expansion of the campaign in the Strip aimed at “achieving all the objectives of the war.” The attacks were accompanied by a large troop buildup along the borders of Gaza, aimed at establishing “operational control.”

Israel claims that the campaign, as well as the aid blockade of the territory, is intended to force Hamas to release the remaining 57 hostages, many of whom are thought to be dead.

The escalation of attacks was condemned Friday by UN human rights chief Volker Türk, who said the bombing campaign was aimed at displacing Palestinians and amounted to ethnic cleansing.

“This latest barrage of bombings… and the denial of humanitarian assistance underscore that there appears to be a drive toward permanent demographic change in Gaza that defies international law and amounts to ethnic cleansing,” he said.

The attacks began as Donald Trump departed the Middle East after a four-day visit to Gulf Arab countries, during which Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar pledged to invest billions in the United States.

This Saturday, Hamas reported that its negotiators have opened a new round of talks in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the genocide.

Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip, launched in retaliation for the October 2023 attacks, has already killed an estimated 61,000 and wounded more than 121,000 people in Gaza, but estimates of indirect deaths as a result of Israel’s offensive likely mean this number is much higher.

Widespread hunger and child malnutrition have also soared following Israel’s cutoff of vital humanitarian aid to the territory on March 2. Medical care in Gaza is scarce due to shortages of supplies and repeated Israeli attacks on hospitals and medical facilities.

The possible reopening of ceasefire negotiations does not change the brutality deployed by the State of Israel, with the collaboration of Western “democratic” governments who have fully supported Netanyahu’s war crimes.

The dire situation in Gaza has added more fuel to the movement in support of the Palestinians. The demonstration at Columbia University, the protest by teachers and students at Brooklyn College in early May, and the mass demonstrations that have taken place as part of the international commemoration of the Nakba, like those in Spain and London, show that there are still millions of people across the world who are willing to take a stand against the genocide and for the liberation of the people of Palestine.

This Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people marched as part of the National Day of Protest in the United Kingdom, 77 years after the Nakba , the loss of their homeland by Palestinians following the creation of the State of Israel.

The demonstrations began at noon with the participation of young people, students, workers, and entire families, as well as socialist and leftist organizations in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

The march, organized under the slogans “Free Palestine, End the genocide,” departed from Embankment Tube toward Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s official residence, although the mobilization was so massive that the columns could barely make progress.

In recent weeks, students and activists at some British universities have begun organizing sit-ins in support of the Palestinian people and against the genocide in Gaza, similar to those held last year, potentially giving the movement new momentum amid Israel’s planned offensive to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.

The organizations that have emerged among the left of the Jewish anti-Zionist youth, the massive international solidarity campaign with Anasse Kazib, and the breakup of the mainstream organizations of the British Jewish community, are all signs that there are more than enough conditions and reasons to build an international movement against the genocide committed by the State of Israel and its collaborators, against the colonial oppression of the Zionist state, and in defense of the Palestinian people’s right to national self-determination.

Originally published in Spanish in La Izquierda Diario on May 17