"For the Israeli government, the erasure of ecosystems and people's means of survival seems to be a key strategic aim," writes Monbiot.

It appears to be seeking what some have called "holocide": the complete destruction of every aspect of life in Gaza. Even without a specific law of ecocide, which many of us seek, the destruction of Palestinian ecosystems is in clear contravention of article 8 of the Rome Statute and should be considered alongside its great crime of genocide.

But if the eventual plan is to create a "Gaza Riviera" or a similar scheme to build an eerie elite technopolis stripped of place and history, of the kind that Donald Trump and some senior Israeli politicians favour " well, who needs trees or soil or crops for that? There is no cost to the perpetrators. Or not, at least, until they are brought to justice.