Alone, as usual, stands the Gaza Strip

Written by: Dr. Asad Abdul Rahman

Once again, the Gaza Strip stands alone in the face of the Israeli military destruction machine, despite the passage of 16 years of what resembles “clinical death” economically, socially, structurally, and infrastructurally, while matters in the Strip are becoming more miserable day after day.

In fact, there is no reason for us to merely try to philosophize the issues and the positive reasons that led to the new battle. Quite simply, there is a continuous colonial occupation targeting the Palestinian people that began a century ago, and it did not stop except for short periods, during which the stopping was a cease-fire, in preparation for the next stages.

Indeed, the situation in the Strip is almost catastrophic, reaching the point of collapse in an area that has become devastated. Since the unilateral Israeli disengagement plan and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the wars against the Strip (2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021, and the latest in 2022) aim at not allowing the Palestinian resistance to accumulate its material and armament capabilities and to keep it in a state of permanent restoration.

According to Israeli observers, any attack on the Strip does not add anything qualitative to the Zionist state ("battles between two wars in the Israeli expression). At the end of each confrontation, the two sides, Israel and the resistance, return to the same point they were at. It is clear to these observers that the assassination of leaders and commanders in The Palestinian resistance factions are not able to change the resistance’s ability and plans.The questions inside the Israeli are talking about the price that Israel paid for the assassinations, and will it improve the security situation for the Israelis after the assassinations?The occupation army has previously made it clear that there is no military solution to the issue of Gaza, and even the “Shin Bet” He supported easing the blockade and still does.

The Gaza Strip has also become an Israeli electoral slogan, as everyone always pledges to succeed in the war against the Strip, while the situation of the Strip remains tragic and enveloped in a security threat to serve the Israeli political spectrum, with an emphasis on Israel's responsibility, according to international law, for the Gaza Strip, despite its withdrawal from it, because it has not It still controls its borders, waters and airspace, and flouts the laws of war that prevent harm to civilians. More importantly, the aggressive battles waged by Israel against the "Gaza Strip" undermine hypotheses that prevailed for more than two decades, most notably the efforts of several parties that spoke of a real Israeli desire to achieve a settlement! As for the current outcome of those efforts, it confirms that Israeli governments, regardless of who heads them, seek to liquidate the Palestinian peace camp and, of course, the resistance camp.

The Israeli understanding of dealing with the Gaza Strip fluctuates between progress through mediation, led by Egypt, in the truce negotiations, and a bloody Israeli escalation.

Therefore, it seems that the Israeli government today has adopted a two-fold scenario, recognizing the de facto authority in Gaza and dealing with it according to specific controls and caveats, coinciding with proceeding with a policy of gradual weakening of Hamas's influence and capabilities, ignoring the exit from the furnace of war against the "Strip". It will be through a political project that not only ends the blockade, but also establishes a “settlement” for the entire Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli conflict.

Accordingly, without a political horizon, the countdown to the next military confrontation has begun with the end of the confrontation that has just ended, in light of the reluctance to support the “sector” and its people on the part of the overwhelming majority of Arab, “Islamic” and even international governments!