An interview with Azmi Bishara regarding the developments in the war: The Israelis realize that they are unable to remain in Gaza

Dr.. Azmi Bishara: The Israelis realize that they are unable to remain in Gaza || “Either there is a plan to displace the population of Gaza from north to south and from there to Sinai, or this is a reflection of Israeli confusion, and this is very possible.”

The Director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Dr. Azmi Bishara, during an interview conducted with him on “Arab TV” on Sunday evening, regarding developments in the war on Gaza that began 37 days ago; He expressed his confidence that the Israelis realize that they are unable to remain in Gaza, pointing out that Israel did not have any plan for the “next day,” that is, after the elimination of the Hamas movement, if it succeeded in doing so.

Bishara expected that Israel would face more armed resistance in the Gaza Strip, suggesting that Israel would have an American deadline of no more than a month to “carry out the mission.”

Regarding the change in Israeli military priorities from focusing on the northern Gaza Strip and then moving to the south, Bishara explained that after what happened on October 7, Israeli officials were forced to develop a military plan and began to adapt the facts to be compatible with the hastily drawn up plan.

He added, "The focus on the north is because they initially decided to start the war in the north. Perhaps today they have discovered that the Hamas leadership and the prisoners are in the south, not the north."

He pointed out, "Either there is a plan to displace the population of Gaza from north to south and from there to Sinai, or this is a reflection of Israeli confusion, and this is very likely."

Bishara stressed that the Americans still share Israel's goals in the war, highlighting some positive observations about the Arab-Islamic summit and its decisions, compared to the low level of expectations that preceded the Riyadh summit, last Saturday.

He said, "The Arab-Islamic summit produced one practical decision, which is to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip," and stated that "relief and aid convoys must enter the Gaza Strip, without dependence on the Israeli military plan."

Bishara described the outcomes of the joint Arab-Islamic summit as some of them acceptable in light of the low level of expectations and in comparison with the weak Arab reality and the amount of differences that exist between the officials of the meeting countries.

According to him, the decisions translated the return of the Palestine issue to the center of attention, while stopping at the repetition of decisions that criticize normalization relations with Israel in isolation from the Palestinian issue and its just solution. Regarding this issue, Bishara said that there is only one practical decision, which is to stand with Egypt in order to break the siege, which is that opening and closing the crossing, at least for aid and relief, is subject to Israel’s approval, “and therefore now they must think about how to translate that decision that they took.”

Bishara stated during the dialogue that “Israel has not yet faced everything that the resistance has prepared in the Gaza Strip,” noting that “there are thousands of young people waiting for the moment of the ground battle.”

After recalling how difficult it is for Hamas to accomplish what it has already accomplished while it is under comprehensive siege, he said, “They (Hamas fighters) have no options but to resist.”

He pointed out that “it is clear that the issue of Israeli prisoners in Gaza does not represent a priority for (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” to which Bishara stressed that the matter for him is “purely military and perhaps in his subconscious he wishes to get rid of the prisoners in the Gaza Strip.” Gaza, and the pressure they are causing and what they will say after they leave if that happens under an agreement.

According to Bishara, one of the crises in the negotiations relates to the number of prisoners demanding their release, and here the problem arises that the Israelis assume larger numbers of prisoners than what exists among the Hamas or Islamic Jihad movements.

Bishara pointed out that “international complicity with Israel’s targeting of hospitals is unprecedented,” and he believed that “Israel is searching for an Arab partner who would accept managing the affairs of the population in the Gaza Strip after reducing their number,” and to establish a security coordination system for them similar to what is happening in the West Bank, with failure. .

He explained that this is a scenario that does not take into account the reaction of people who lost everything. “Then it is important not to forget that Israel has never been ready to pay the financial price of the occupation in terms of expenses and investments, so it will ask Arab countries to invest money to rebuild Gaza, as it had previously done.” I asked in the past.

While he pointed out that the Palestinian leaders missed repeated opportunities for unity, and that it is not possible to rule the West Bank or Gaza without Palestinian unity, Bishara saw that the Israelis realize that they cannot remain in Gaza, “with the need to remember that whoever withdrew from Gaza is a warlike person on the level of (the Prime Minister) Former Israeli Ariel Sharon.

The director of the Arab Center stated, “Just as the Israeli leadership did not have a plan to occupy Gaza, it did not have a plan for the next day, that is, after the end of the war and the elimination of the Hamas movement with its rule and military power.”

He also downplayed the importance of the American talk about the necessity of holding a new peace conference, because the Arab world went through “such a scenario after the occupation of Kuwait and the Madrid Conference and the failed conferences that followed under the title of two states and long negotiations. Likewise, the Americans know that Israel refuses to offer anything to the Arabs, especially today.” "After they failed to save a hospital and bring aid into the Gaza Strip.

Regarding the Israeli army’s targeting of hospitals, Bishara said that the occupation’s targeting of them in this systematic manner is mainly due to the Israeli conviction that it is impossible to displace a people without demolishing their hospitals and schools as safe havens.

He stressed that "the United States still shares Israel's goals in the war on Gaza," stressing that "American military support remains unconditional."

In this regard, Bishara agreed that the American administration is now facing internal problems and a rise in voices rejecting the official position within the leftist movement of the Democratic Party and among American Jews, “and this is an important matter,” in the estimation of Dr. Bishara, who assumes that these people have actually influenced the administration in public discourse, and it has become Netanyahu is forced to respond to American inquiries about the limits of the war and future plans. But in Bishara’s assessment, the official American pressure is still not real and is related to “providing advice,” and this is not pressure that will be achieved “when an Arab position arises that actually affects America, related to relations with Israel, security coordination, etc., and this has not happened yet.”

He stated that "Israel is exploiting the state of war to settle scores with the Palestinian people in the West Bank."

Bishara had indicated during an interview conducted with him on the fourth of this month that the three conditions for Israel to stop its aggression are that the Israeli consensus on the war be violated, that the American-Israeli agreement on the goal of the aggression, i.e. eliminating the Hamas movement, be disturbed, and that the major Arab countries take action. Real steps such as a serious threat to sever relations with Israel. He believed that it is in the interest of everyone at the level of countries and powers in the region that Israel does not achieve its goals in the war on Gaza.

Regarding Hezbollah, Bishara said in the previous meeting that any entry into the war would not change the situation in Gaza, but rather would increase the price paid by Israel.

The Director General of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies pointed out that as long as there is an Israeli consensus on restoring balance, prestige and revenge through war, and as long as the American-Israeli agreement continues on the goal of the war, and as long as there are no real steps from the Arab countries, the war of annihilation against the Gaza Strip will continue. .