Israeli war of annihilation against Gaza must awaken Israeli consciousness

The last October 7 constituted not only a shock to the arrogance of the military and political institutions in Israel, but rather a sign of a strategic failure for both of them on the security, political and military levels. Perhaps the most important failure was represented by the collapse of Netanyahu’s strategy, which had long aimed to prevent the Palestinian people from self-determination and the emergence of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state by tearing apart the national entity and deepening the separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.

The shock and failure ignited the spirit of revenge and the instinct to kill and destroy hidden in the sick mentality of Netanyahu, the pillars of his racist government, and his war leaders. They were not satisfied with their inflammatory statements only considering that their war had become existential, but also issued public orders to satisfy their desire for revenge, whether to cover up the failure, especially Netanyahu, who found in this war his goal to complete the catastrophe of 1948, or to try to restore the arrogant prestige that the Minister of Defense slandered when he described the people of Gaza as full of monsters and he ordered the cutting off of all means of life, including food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel. 

President Herzog also fell into the mire of racism that does not see civilians in Gaza. In the first week, Israel succeeded in recruiting the leaders of allied governments, especially President Biden, to repeat lies about the rape of women and the beheading of children, in order to pass the “legitimacy” of the genocidal war by trying to “ISIS” Hamas and “demonize” the people of Gaza, including children and women, whose percentage reached about 74 percent of the number of victims, which exceeded ninety thousand dead, wounded and missing to date.

Regardless of the discrepancy regarding the position regarding the circumstances of the October 7th explosion, regarding Netanyahu’s false propaganda about what some Israeli civilians were exposed to in the Gaza Strip, and the facts that are revealed successively about the extent of the occupation army’s responsibility for that, and that it is not limited to Hamas fighters only. The latter's decision, which was announced by Al-Qassam Chief of Staff Muhammad Al-Deif in the first hour of the attack, was clear, prohibiting harming civilians by Al-Qassam fighters. Despite the chaos that included the Gaza envelope area, including the capture and kidnapping of a number of civilians, a number of the movement’s leaders announced throughout, including the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, who was assassinated by Israel in the southern suburb of Beirut, that these civilians had reached the hands of Al-Qassam in the Gaza Strip by mistake, and that the Phalange is ready to return them if there is some calm that enables them to carry out this, and perhaps it was right to correct this mistake from the first hours by handing over civilians, especially women and children, to the Red Cross.

"Israeli objectives of the war",,
Perhaps what the past hundred days show is that Netanyahu's primary, if not only, goal of the war of annihilation is to continue the war without end, or even to expand its area. Perhaps this is what explains his floating of the declared war goals between eradicating “Hamas” and dismantling both its military capacity and its rule of Gaza. Although the recovery of prisoners and hostages, both military and civilian, was considered a primary goal, the facts of the war in the field confirm that this, in addition to the impossibility of implementing it without negotiation, was not only an attempt to contain the movement demanding their return, which extended to demands to stop the war and called for an exchange deal to be concluded at any cost.

War and shifts in public opinion:
First: Israeli society
The 100 days of the war witnessed significant changes in public opinion in Israel, which began to vocally call for Netanyahu’s dismissal, leading to former Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army, Dan Halutz, believing that the only possible victory from the war on Gaza would be to “remove” Netanyahu from his position, as well as one hundred and seventy former security officials signed a petition calling for immediate elections to replace the political leadership in light of the current conditions and the war on the Gaza Strip. These transformations were not limited to public opinion, but rather the dispute extended between the leaders of the government, in addition to the rift between the political and military leadership due to Netanyahu’s desperate attempts to place the responsibility for the failure on the army leaders and once again to protect his continued rule.

Second: At the international level,,
These transformations have penetrated the international arena in an unprecedented way. The global popular uprising is still continuing in various cities and capitals of countries, including the United States, which has become isolated at the Security Council level, at a time when London and Paris were quick to change their positions, and the European Union began calling for a ceasefire as the only means to save the tragedy of innocent people in Gaza. Moreover, Washington, despite its continued position of rejecting a ceasefire, has begun to speak publicly about the impossibility of completely eradicating Hamas and its military capabilities, and the discrepancy between the positions of Washington and Tel Aviv regarding the course of the war has become clear, especially since It relates to displacement, humanitarian aid, and not harming civilians, although that did not stop Washington’s military and political support. This is in addition to the fundamental disagreement between them over the future of the Strip, which Washington wants as an integral part of the Palestinian entity in the context of what it has come to call the revitalization of the Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu still clearly rejects.

Third: Bringing Israel to the International Court of Justice,,
South Africa's step to bring Israel before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing the crime of genocide may constitute a defining historical moment, not only to stop the war in accordance with the South African precautionary request, but perhaps to open the path to the rule of international justice for Palestinian rights that have remained imprisoned in the corridors of the international community since the Nakba. This comes first due to the legendary steadfastness in the face of the Israeli genocidal war machine, and the transformations that public opinion is witnessing due to the atrocities committed by the Israeli army.

This war revealed the state of weakness on the Arab and Islamic levels. Despite the decision of the joint “Arab and Islamic” summit, which called, among other things, for breaking the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, the flow of aid remained hostage to the Israeli military plan, which was directed by the Israeli team in the International Court of Justice. By holding Egypt responsible for the non-entry of this aid, which is exposed by the truce negotiations and the exchange of prisoners and hostages, which included Israel’s agreement to bring in one hundred trucks daily, as well as the permanent American demand for Netanyahu to increase the flow of aid. This matter, while it reveals Israel's arrogance in the face of the Arab situation, requires a practical response by bringing in this aid directly from the Rafah crossing without submitting to Israeli blackmail.

Displacement plans,,
Since the beginning of the aggression, calls by Israeli officials for mass displacement have increased, which was rejected by Egypt, as well as Jordan, which prompted Israel to build its military plan to serve the gradual displacement from the north to the center and then to the south and south of Rafah in an attempt to impose a fait accompli under the burden of destroying all elements of life. It leads to what Israel calls “voluntary migration,” and this is still considered the most prominent undeclared goal of the war. In this context come Israel’s plans to control the Philadelphia axis and with it the Rafah border crossing to tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip, and to control and obstruct the mechanism for bringing in materials necessary for reconstruction, which will push many to leave.

The Palestinian position,,
The most important question remains about the future of the war, and with it the future of the Gaza Strip, and even the future of the entire Palestinian issue, lies in the Palestinian subjective factor. Despite the legendary state of steadfastness in the face of the ferocity of the aggression, and despite the heavy and even catastrophic losses that have been inflicted and are still being inflicted on our people in the Gaza Strip, what is striking, and although it is the fate of the war will determine the future of the national issue if not the Palestinian presence, and the risks that this carries may dissipate all those enormous sacrifices. However, this scene, with all its repercussions, did not bring about the required change in terms of victory for the bloodied Gaza in what has become clear that it is a war of genocide. The parties still dominate the Palestinian scene is largely entrenched in its previous positions regarding the need for unity and ending all the repercussions of the division that has always formed a “defrost” of attempts to penetrate and liquidate Palestinian rights through the annexation plan in the West Bank, and isolating Gaza from the national entity especially after this war, is no longer just a need to restore and democratize the Palestinian political system at the level of organization and authority. Rather, it has become an existential need to confront Israel's liquidation plans, most notably annexation and displacement. Does the influential leadership have any alternative other than to quickly unify the national position to mobilize the ability to confront and thwart these plans? Does it have an alternative to restoring the coalition character of the organization other than the political leaderships of Hamas and Islamic Jihad joining its leadership bodies so that they become actual national decision-making bodies and not just decoration or an advisory body whose opinion is not even taken into account? Is there an alternative to a comprehensive national decision to form a unity or national reconciliation government that would block Netanyahu’s illusions of isolating Gaza from the West Bank with Jerusalem and the holy sites at its heart? Is there an alternative to such steps to restore hope to Gaza’s orphans, bereaved women, widows, and those remaining from their families, and ignite even a glimmer of this hope in the souls of the people of the Gaza Strip that their sacrifices will not be in vain? Is there an alternative to a strong national government, supported by its people and the national community, to prioritize the reconstruction of Gaza, thwart displacement plans, and provide the elements of resilience that help people survive? If you have an alternative to that other than silence and waiting, let it be known, because time consists of blood and lives being wasted, and a cause may be dissipated.

The final question for the Israeli community is: After your successive governments tried all forms of war against our Palestinian people, the latest of which is the ongoing war of genocide under the pretext of ensuring your security and safety, have these wars brought to you and our people nothing but calamities and victims? When will you recognize the truth of the existence of the Palestinian people and their full national rights, including their right to self-determination, build their future, and live in freedom, dignity and peace on their homeland like the rest of the peoples of the world?!