On the Chris Hayes show last night, the panel analyzed the impossibility of separating Hamas from the fleeing civilians. Hayes, not having grasped the significance of the destruction in Gaza City, drew upon past history, suggesting that when Israel shifted focus to southern Gaza, Hamas fighters would move back to the north with the civilian population.

Oh, Chris: no one is returning. Look at the pictures. The IDF is going to squeeze the civilian population to the south, slicing the territory into half, then quartered, then an eighth, until the weight of human suffering drives the international community to force Egypt to allow the refugees to enter.

Death has the leaders of Netanyahu’s coalition firmly in its grasp. The conclusion drawn from Israel’s history by the Orthodox and military leaders is that counseled in guidance to the Chosen People when they entered the Promised Land. “Kill all the men and destroy everything that has known the touch of a man’s hand.” This is the “ancient evil” that lives again in those circles.

Those leaders – who are not willing to submit to the restraint demanded by the people of Israel – have become the thing that attempted to destroy their ancestors. You see, in the Third Reich, a “Jew” was anyone who carried the blood of a Jewish grandparent. Hitler himself had an abusive, alcoholic, Jewish grandfather. As God’s protection was upon the souls of Hitler’s victims, so it will be upon the souls of innocent Palestinians. As for their prospective murderers: do not follow orders that violate international laws of war. If the President of Israel expected unarmed civilians to overthrow Hamas, he can no less expect you to refuse to commit war crimes.