by Dr Fayiz abu-Shamala

Regardless of how aggressive the Israeli attack on Gaza is, the Israeli Occupation will not score any political points at the end of its aggression. No matter how many civilians were killed during the Israeli aggression, the Israeli Occupation’s government will not be able to boast its ‘victory’ in front of its people, as no achievements were made on the ground. The Israeli military’s leaders started to realize this bitter reality that the era of scoring easy victories has ended, as they can no longer retake control of the coastal enclave. It is a fact that the next flare-up of fighting between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli Occupation will not change the current situation in Gaza.  

The blockaded Palestinians in Gaza are aware of the fact that they are confronting the region’s strongest and most brutal military. However, they believe that they can remain steadfast in the face of the Israeli aggression by the willpower of its resistance which spares no effort to defend its people against any Israeli attack. The hidden reason behind Gaza’s resilience in the face of the challenges surrounding the Palestinian cause lies in its residents’ strong believe in their right to return, to the extent that they are willing to make sacrifices and gear themselves up to achieve their long-sought-after demands.     

Gaza is the real incurable dilemma facing not only the Israeli government, but the Israeli society in general, as the number of Gaza’s refugees reminds them of stealing Palestine after forcing out its indigenous residents. The narrow space of the two-million coastal enclave brings to its residents’ minds that the Israeli Zionists have occupied their homeland. The Palestinian resistance’s willingness to defend its people and the Great March of Return is a cause of worry and instability in the Israeli society, regardless of how much Palestinian-owned land they have seized and how close their ties are with the neighboring countries.   

The Palestinian people lost their trust in the neighboring countries, yet they don’t fear the Israeli Occupation’s threat to re-occupy Gaza, as they realize that what makes the Israeli military not capable of doing so is the lack of courage and the limited capabilities it has. The Palestinian resistance thinks that the Israeli officials’ statements about being busy reducing tension at the northern front is a mere red herring.  

I think that the Israeli Occupation believes that it must defuse the tension at Gaza’s front before the tension at the Northern front escalates into a new war, as it’s keen to cover its back and close the door on any potential threat to its existence. Therefore, it’s likely that the Israeli Occupation scrambles to launch a systemic offensive against Gaza that will defuse the tension at the coastal enclave’s front and pave the way for a new Israeli aggression on the northern front contradicting with the narrative circulating on Israeli media and the Israeli officials’ statements.    

The experience of previous confrontations with the occupation has shown that the Israelis fear the Gaza Strip more than any other front because waging an all out war on the besieged Strip will significantly affect the internal security of the Israeli entity. This is also reflected in the current Israeli escalation which did not change its doctrine of combat, ultimately bringing us back to July 2014, where the Israeli aggression kicked off after the same aggression we are witnessing today. 

If the war is forcefully imposed on Gaza, the resistance will be ready and will take the Israeli military by surprise, that is unless Israel retreats from its decision and listens to the language of reason of achieving a truce, break the siege and ease the suffering of the Palestinian people. The next few days will have an answer to this predicament. .