Words accompany actions – they prepare and explain them. Since October 7, 2023, dehumanizing rhetoric about Palestinians and calls for the eradication of Gaza have become commonplace in Israel's political and media spheres. Expressed by government ministers, lawmakers, military experts and public figures, these statements have been used to justify the mass killing of Palestinian civilians, especially women and children, the destruction of entire cities, the concentration of more than two million people in conditions deemed unlivable by international organizations, incitement to forced emigration, and the blockade of food and humanitarian aid to the point of famine. After more than 19 months of war in Gaza, the toll has been exceptionally high for the enclave: more than 53,000 dead, a majority of them women and children, 120,000 wounded and over 60% of buildings destroyed.

Dehumanizing language has been used at the highest levels of the Israeli government, immediately after the Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel. Yoav Gallant, who was then the defense minister, until his dismissal from government in 2024, justified the start of the siege by declaring: "We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, contrasted the "sons of light," who are subjected to "barbarism" and "the law of the jungle," with the "sons of darkness," and compared Hamas to "monsters."

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