History As It Happens – "Eyewitness to Annihilation"

Date: March 31, 2026
Host: Martin Di Caro
Guest: Jean-Pierre Filiu (Historian, former diplomat, author of A Historian in Gaza)

Episode Overview

In this harrowing yet essential conversation, host Martin Di Caro interviews renowned historian and former diplomat Jean-Pierre Filiu, who spent 32 days in Gaza during the ongoing war, witnessing first-hand the devastation wrought by Israeli military operations. Drawing on his deep historical knowledge and personal experiences, Filiu shares insights into the destruction of Gaza's society, the psychological toll of collective punishment, the failure of the international community, and how these recent events tie into broader global trends threatening the post-World War II rules-based order. The discussion is deeply personal, profoundly analytical, and urgently relevant for understanding not only Gaza's tragedy but its implications for global politics.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Motivation to Bear Witness

[07:46–08:49]

• Filiu describes his compulsion to return to Gaza:

  “As a historian, I had written Gaza history. I knew the place pretty well, pretty intimately. And as a human being, I had many friends over there ... what was being destroyed was destroyed in front of our eyes and would definitely never go back. And I had to bear witness, to bear witness as a historian, but also very simply, as a human being.”
  —Jean-Pierre Filiu [08:19]

The Devastation in Gaza

[09:26–11:15]

• Filiu recounts the “lunar landscape” of total destruction:
  • Streets, cities, and memories erased; replaced by an “ocean of refugees” in tents, with no shelter or basic facilities.
  • He emphasizes the complete absence of true humanitarian zones, exposing the Orwellian nature of official language:

  "Gaza is an Orwellian world where all the words get the contrary. Meaning, you know, humanitarian zone is nothing humanitarian." [11:23]

Life and Death Under Siege: Water, Food, Medicine

[12:09–13:45]

• Access to water is catastrophic; Doctors Without Borders provided much of the meager supply.
• Gaza’s historic oasis status has been reversed:

  “In Gaza in history was an oasis. Everybody was coming to Gaza because of the water ... But because of the sea, because of the war, all this has been destroyed.” [12:33]

Genocide, Annihilation, and Dehumanization

[14:23–16:41]

• Filiu avoids the loaded term "genocide" but insists what he witnessed is worse than anything in his past, calling it an “annihilation war.”

  “It’s systematic, it’s industrial. It’s an annihilation war. This expression, I use it repeatedly because I think it’s relevant. It annihilated every possibility of a decent Life, collective life ... Palestinian society has been atomized in order to make them something less than a people, some kind of a vast collective of bellies to be fed or bodies to be cured.” [15:27]

• On the personal toll:

  “Nothing had prepared me for what I saw and experienced in Gaza. Nothing at all. Nothing.” —Martin Di Caro reading Filiu's words [16:41]

Hamas, Occupation, and the Destruction of Alternatives

[17:18–19:24]

• On the definition of “Hamas people,” Filiu notes that all functioning institutions were tied into Hamas governance.
• He describes the cycle: Israeli military action eliminates civil society—universities, NGOs, opposition—thus making Hamas stronger relative to the devastated alternatives.

  "[Israel's war] ... will destroy much more Gaza and the society and the civil society and all the universities and all what could have been the counter powers to Hamas rule.” [18:34]

International Indifference and Its Roots

[20:16–22:25]

• Gaza’s blockade since 2007 set new standards of abnormality—international indifference was cultivated over years.
• The disconnection is deepened by information control:

  “...being over there make it not only totally different, it’s a totally new experience. I haven’t recovered yet. ... If Netanyahu and his government consistently forbid the access of Gaza to the international press, it’s because they know perfectly that any seasoned war reporter ... will understand that he never saw anything like this before ... he will broke up in tears.” [21:18]

War Crimes, Media Denial, and Casualty Figures

[22:25–26:11]

• The Israeli government, abetted by sections of the media, denied or minimized casualty numbers and the famine, often smearing the source (Gaza Health Ministry) as suspect.

• Filiu maintains that actual casualties exceed even official numbers due to the narrow admissibility of data:

  “This toll is a minimum because you have thousands of missing, whether buried under the rubbles or somewhere in an Israeli jail, we don’t know. ... You probably can double the number of people who have been directly killed by the Israeli army, which bring us to incredible level of loss.” [25:10]

• Israeli estimates themselves suggest about 10% of Gaza’s population killed or wounded.

Attacks on Hospitals and Journalists

[26:58–30:28]

• International law forbids attacks on hospitals, yet every major hospital in Gaza was attacked/bombed/occupied.
• Claims that Hamas used hospitals as military headquarters have never been substantiated, while obvious fabrications (e.g., using 3D models from a Scottish museum) circulated.

  “...not one indisputable proof of military use as base by Hamas of the hospitals in Gaza has been provided, not one.” [27:38]

• Journalists and healthcare workers were deliberately targeted:

  “Doctors Without Borders with whom I was working lost 15 people. … Gaza is and remains the most dangerous press on earth for journalists and for humanitarians.” [28:54]

The Censorship Victory

[30:28–32:25]

• Martin and Filiu agree: Israel’s greatest “victory” was silencing the international press.
• Western governments, especially the United States and Europe, failed to press for press freedom.

  “His only victory was not against Hamas, it was against all of us. Because this victory prevented us collectively to get the real grasp of this horrendous reality, unprecedented, this lawless order, this new reality that is emerging from Gaza ..." [31:09]

America's and Europe’s Role

[33:19–35:49]

• Filiu directly attributes responsibility for the annihilation in Gaza to the Biden administration.

  “...what I witnessed over there was fully the responsibility of the Biden administration because I left the strip only one day after Donald Trump re entered the White House. So there’s certainly a huge responsibility and historical responsibility ..." [33:37]

• Historical background: the closure and checkpoint system dates back to the policies following the 1967 occupation and the peace processes that paradoxically imposed greater restrictions and divisions.

  "I think this lack of human interaction is a key to understand disconnect from the human reality." [34:13]

The Political Economy: Imposed Poverty and De-development

[37:08–40:16]

• Gaza was once fertile, vibrant, and educated—but “de-development” (economic regression imposed by blockade, occupation, and Hamas/Israeli power plays) eroded all of that.

  “It means that not only there is no growth, but every year is bringing you more below zero. Just to understand why I was so shocked ... Gaza had some of the highest standards in terms of public services before this catastrophe.” [38:50]

Gaza and the Unraveling World Order

[40:16–46:00]

• Filiu draws connections between Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran: weakening of the UN, sidelining of international law, and the rise of strongmen like Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump, who collectively shape new norms of impunity and lawlessness.

  “Trump came back and during the year 2005, European leaders, instead of confronting Trump both on Ukraine and Gaza, they tried to placate him on Gaza, abandoning Gaza … Instead of saying, we have to get out from this impact, we have to have a decent, clear pathway to the two state solution ... they accepted Trump, literally closing the gate of any hope to the people of Gaza." [41:07]

• Absence of real diplomats and the demise of negotiation:

  "In a world without diplomats, you won’t achieve peace. I would not qualify Steve Witkoff or Jared Kushner as diplomat." [43:54]

Enduring Lessons From History

[44:32–49:55]

• Di Caro and Filiu discuss how cataclysmic violence has repeatedly reset the world order—while voicing the fear that we are drifting back to a pre-human rights, pre-Geneva Convention era with fewer restraints on violence.

  “...the taboo of violating what you just mentioned fell in Gaza without significant reaction or certainly without a reaction adapted to the magnitude of the violation." [46:05]

• On the need for global solidarity and hope:

  "I think a clear sign that we would be changing path significantly would be the opening of Gaza. ... We need Gaza. We need Gaza back. We need Gaza back in its whole humanity in order not to lose more of our own humanity." [49:44]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On bearing witness:

  “I had to bear witness, to bear witness as a historian, but also very simply, as a human being.” —Jean-Pierre Filiu [08:19]

• On dehumanization:

  “The Palestinian society has been atomized in order to make them something less than a people ... certainly dehumanization on a scale that I’ve never experienced before.” —Jean-Pierre Filiu [15:40]

• On international failure:

  “...it’s not reality. It’s not something you can feel deeply ... I haven’t recovered yet. I haven’t come back yet from Gaza.” —Jean-Pierre Filiu [21:18]

• On attacks on hospitals/journalists:

  “Doctors Without Borders ... lost 15 people. ... Gaza is and remains the most dangerous press on earth for journalists and for humanitarians.” —Jean-Pierre Filiu [28:54]

• On the world’s complicity:

  “His only victory was not against Hamas, it was against all of us. Because this victory prevented us collectively to get the real grasp of this horrendous reality, unprecedented, this lawless order, this new reality that is emerging from Gaza ..." —Jean-Pierre Filiu [31:09]

Chronological Timestamps Guide

• [01:04] – Start of episode; Di Caro’s introduction
• [02:19] – Filiu’s first assessment: Gaza’s erasure and dehumanization
• [07:46] – Jean-Pierre Filiu joins; motivation for Gaza mission
• [09:26] – Describing devastation and tent cities
• [11:15] – The so-called “humanitarian zone” as a misnomer
• [12:09] – Details on water crisis and environmental disaster
• [14:23] – Discussion of “annihilation war” versus genocide
• [16:41] – Nothing prepared Filiu for Gaza’s reality
• [17:18] – Encountering Hamas during the truce
• [20:16] – Global indifference; blockade abnormalized
• [22:25] – Media denial, casualty statistics debate
• [26:58] – Hospitals as targets, the myth of Hamas HQs
• [30:28] – Press censorship: Israel’s “only victory”
• [33:19] – U.S. and European complicity, checkpoints history
• [37:08] – Political economy: “de-development”
• [40:16] – Gaza, Ukraine, Iran: world order in crisis
• [44:32] – Historical cataclysms, breaking of old taboos
• [49:44] – “We need Gaza back ... in its whole humanity”

Conclusion

This episode is an urgent, unflinching account of the physical and moral annihilation taking place in Gaza, rooted in decades of policy and historical precedent but unprecedented in its intensity and scope. Filiu’s on-the-ground testimony is an irreplaceable corrective to official narratives and media denial, underscoring the enduring importance of bearing witness and connecting the local to the global. As Filiu says:

"We need Gaza back ... in its whole humanity in order not to lose more of our own humanity." [49:44]

Next Episode Preview: The series will move focus to the West Bank, examining the ongoing annexation and settler violence.