From negotiation confrontations to existential conflict

The “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle imposed a confrontation different from its predecessors. It is impossible for it to end, like previous confrontations, with a ceasefire agreement and regional sponsorship of a temporary truce, after it broke all previous rules of engagement and destroyed the Israeli deterrence equation, which Tel Aviv needs an open battle without restrictions or a time limit, and unlimited international support in order to restore it. That is, to the complete annihilation of the Gaza Strip under the pretext of liquidating the Hamas movement and the rest of the armed Palestinian factions, and this is impossible.

For Hamas and the rest of the factions that operate as armed organizations outside official authority, survival can be considered a victory, regardless of the losses in people and stones. As for Israel, what happened, far from what it will end, will require decades to restore the principle of superiority in the collective consciousness of the population of Israel, and restore confidence in the army institution that failed to achieve collective security for them.

For the first time since its founding, it is threatened by counter-migration, especially by the middle class opposed to the ruling right-wing religious movements and parties, which may find a safe haven in Europe. There is also an internal demographic threat; that it is difficult to convince the residents of the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip to return quickly.

In fact, after the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the confrontation was no longer between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation, but rather returned to the starting point between the Palestinian issue and the Israeli entity. That is, returning the region and the world to an existential conflict built in the Israeli mind to eliminate what remains of the other side, that is, a final liquidation of the Palestinian issue. This goal is not only to achieve a military victory, but more importantly for the Israeli ruling elite is to get rid of any future obligations towards the Palestinians as a people. 

This is clear through the systematic marginalization of the Palestinian National Authority and its weakening to justify that there is no Palestinian peace partner on the one hand, and on the other hand the policies of annexing lands in the West Bank for decades have become a geographical obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

And now the attempt to push for the displacement of the residents of Gaza towards Sinai; that threatens Egyptian national security in particular and Arab collective security in general, and takes the crisis to more dangerous levels.

This is what Saudi writer Tariq Al-Hamid pointed out in his recent article in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper entitled “Beware of Changing Maps,” where he said: “What is happening is dangerous and may change the maps and reality on the ground and may bring us back to negotiating everything we had geographically.”

In practice, it is impossible for the main parties concerned with the Palestinian issue to accept Tel Aviv’s plans, led by Riyadh and most of its Arab brothers, which presented its vision for a just and comprehensive peace based on the principle of a two-state solution and considered the Palestine Liberation Organization and the National Authority an essential partner in the solution. This was what embarrassed Hamas and reduced the influence of its regional supporters on the one hand, and on the other hand, adherence to the two-state solution constitutes a real nightmare for the ruling Israeli right, which before the crisis was facing a structural crisis and rejection by the so-called Israeli society, which is more inclined towards extremism, and this It is clear from the choices of its voters.

In the early statement issued by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and what was reported by the official Saudi media from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that “the Kingdom’s firm position towards championing the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive and just peace that guarantees the Palestinian people’s access to their legitimate rights,” Riyadh is taking a different path than everyone else, away from the excesses of “resistance” towards Palestine and the West’s irrational bias in favor of Israel, as Riyadh confirms that the Palestinian issue is stable despite the cruelty of the changes.

Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat