There’s a shocking absence in this election: politicians won’t mention the Israel-Gaza war | Owen Jones

Britain is complicit in mass slaughter on a horrifying scale. But those campaigning for our votes pretend it's not happening

Is this a serious country or not? It is egregious enough that this general election campaign is so stripped of discussion about the defining issues facing us at home for the next half decade, whether that be public spending, the NHS or education. But it is especially shocking how quickly the butchery in Gaza - and the position of this imploding government and its successor - has been forgotten.

This week alone, Israel has threatened all out war" with Lebanon, while Hezbollah's leader threatens a war without rules or ceilings", dangling the prospect of a far graver bloodbath than that unleashed by Israel's genocidal rampage in Gaza. The spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces has admitted that Hamas cannot be destroyed militarily: this amounts to a confession that the central war goal used to justify the slaughter of tens of thousands is unattainable. And the UN has released a report offering evidence as to how Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza may have systematically violated the laws of war on protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist