Nuclear bombs hit every major city in Iran, Beirut, Damascus, Yemen and Gaza at roughly the same time. Experts had been warning for weeks something was cooking, because Israel had handed out potassium iodide to its citizens, well, you know, most of its citizens. It had also mysteriously pulled back from Gaza, claiming its forces needed a two week break for rest and resupply.   

Once the bombs had struck Netanyahu went on television saying anyone who would attack Israel in the wake of these strikes would be next. He especially threatened Turkey.    In the confusion resulting from these nuclear attacks China took over Taiwan in an extremely well-executed attack that would have stunned the world if all eyes hadn’t been on the Middle East. Analysts expected Russia and North-Korea to drop nuclear bombs on its enemies, but that didn’t happen. The most tense situation, when it came to the further use of nuclear weapons, existed between India and Pakistan. The world’s diplomats were scrambling to ease tensions between the two, because a nuclear war between these two countries would make the planet unliveable. Even the bombs Israel had thrown were causing massive pollution with detrimental consequences for large parts of Asia, Africa and Europe for decades to come.   

President Kamala Harris was threatening China with nuclear war if it didn’t retreat from Taiwan and give it back to Japan. After she had been informed that Taiwan didn’t belong to Japan she cited the fatigue of her recent jet lag for the slip. The US, the UK and Germany were doing what they could to prevent Israel being slammed with the harshest economic sanctions the world could come up with. Many South-American countries and some smaller countries in Europe acted unilaterally and cut all ties with Israel. South-Africa was calling for an international force to disarm Israel. Netanyahu reminded the South-Africans that they were not safe from Israeli nuclear bombs either.   

The West Bank was officially annexed. The Palestinians there were forcefully displaced and driven into Jordan. Whoever was still alive in Gaza was driven into the Sinai or shot. If Egypt and Jordan didn’t accept these moves they would receive the nuclear treatment as well.    Parts of southern Lebanon, Syria and Jordan were also added to the territory of greater Israel.  

With nuclear retaliation certain nobody in the region opposed Israel.     It looked like Israel had scored a total and permanent victory over its enemies.   

Then civil war broke out in Israel. With nobody left to fight Israeli factions turned on each other. Radicalized factions were fighting over what to do next. Some were pushing for more territorial gains and more nuclear bombs. Some were advocating a consolidation of its gains and peace. The most radical faction was convinced there was no point in stopping now since the world would never forgive these moves. According to them the world was now too stunned to react and Israel could throw more nuclear bombs without facing any real reaction.   

In the Israeli civil war Arab Israelis were rounded up and put in camps or driven out along with the Palestinians in the West Bank and the few survivors in Gaza. Jews all over the world vocally distanced themselves from Israel’s actions, except for some high ranking American officials.   

A small group of Israeli officers, calling themselves the Stauffenberg club, eventually staged a coup. Netanyahu was blown up and killed during a meeting with his senior military commanders. The tiny resistance effectively sabotaged Israel’s nuclear arsenal. Submarines turned over most Israeli nuclear weapons to Brasil, France, Norway and other nations. The resistance members were then viciously hunted down and executed in the most horrific ways.   

An international armed force was assembled and sent to cordon off Israel. South-Africa took a leading role in this effort.   

A plan was formed to create an artificial island in the Indian ocean and the Israeli population would be moved there. They would only be moved when all humanitarian precautions had been taken to ensure they could create a fully functioning society there. It would not be allowed nuclear weapons or an army for offensive actions, much like Japan after World War II. Palestinians would be allowed to return to the area and an independent Palestine would be created.  

President Kamala Harris opposed the move. She immediately hit every country that had a role in the plan with nuclear weapons. This time all countries with nuclear weapons reacted.   

The human population was reduced to about one million individuals scattered all over the world. Especially the most marginalized, underdeveloped communities survived. Some of these were so remote they had no idea they had survived an apocalypse.    The survivors eventually clustered together in five major tribes.   

They all went to war with each other using sticks and stones, primitive swords and spears.    Then aliens landed and killed every last human for fear that if humans were allowed to develop again they would find a way to destroy the entire universe.