A Gaza War Reader

By Dr. Tariq Sami Khoury

Despite the Gaza truce announcement, the question everyone is asking: Did this war end in victory or defeat?

Did the Zionist entity achieve its strategic goals, or did the Palestinian resistance factions impose a new equation on the ground? The mass destruction and great human losses open the way for a deeper analysis of the situation from multiple angles.

Zionist entity…Goals successes or victory illusions?

Israel launched its aggression on Gaza with unprecedented brutality, resulting in the near-total destruction of the Strip’s infrastructure, and the deaths of more than 250,000 people between those killed and wounded with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of residents.

Also the Israeli aggression extended to southern Lebanon and Syria, whilst targeting Yemen and Iran in clear attempts to expand the scope of the confrontation.

But did the Zionist entity achieve its goals?

1) Eliminating the resistance: Despite all attempts at genocide and continuous bombing, the Israeli army was unable to end the resistance or dismantle its infrastructure. The resistance proved its ability to continue to confront, and to carry out qualitative military operations till the last minute.

2) Recovering Its prisoners: Israel did not succeed to recover all its prisoners. In the end it was forced to enter into negotiations with the resistance under their own terms, which showed Israel was unable to impose its will by military force alone.

3) No deterrence: Instead of imposing a new equation to deter the resistance, Israel faced continuous missile strikes that reached deep into its territories and imposed a new and unprecedented reality on the Israeli internal front and unbearable political and security pressure on the Zionist leadership.

Legendary  Palestinian resistance…

Despite the Israel ferocity and the intense destruction, the Palestinian resistance emerged strong and cohesive. The battle it fought was not only for defense, but to establish a new equation in the conflict, as it was able to:

1) Survive despite the bombardment: Israel was unable to break the resistance will or push its fighters to surrender and remained able to respond and maneuver till the last moment, which shows the failure of the Zionist plan to crush it.

2) Imposing negotiating equations: The resistance was able to impose itself as a key party in any future solution, and succeeded in confirming that the prisoners are not just a pressure card, but a negotiating element that changes the equation.

3) Maintaining morale: Despite Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe, the Palestinian people came out to celebrate the truce, in scenes that reflect their steadfastness and ability to overcome hardships. That is a psychological defeat for the Zionist entity.

Regional and international dimension… Exhaustion or victory?

Israel expanded the scope of its aggression to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and even Iran to attempt to weaken any future threats. But this did not lead to decisive results. Rather it opened up several fronts without achieving any strategic gains.

1) Northern front (Lebanon and Syria): Despite its continuous bombing, Israel was not able to stop the force of the axis of resistance, but faced more threats leading to the exhaustion of its forces.

2) Yemeni front: The air strikes on the country failed to stop Yemen from participating in the conflict equation by targeting the ships in the Red Sea going to the Israeli Port of Eilat, and which added a new strategic dimension.

3) Iranian Front: The Zionist strikes did not deter Iran or stop its support for the axis of resistance, but strengthened its position whilst prompting it to escalate its support for the Palestinian resistance.

Truce.. Rest bite and an opportunity?

With the ceasefire announcement, it can be said the resistance emerged victorious through its ability to withstand and maintain its position to influence the future. In contrast, while the Zionist entity may have achieved some of its field goals, it failed to draw a decisive victory and end of the resistance.

Conclusion.. Victory and defeat

The battle was not equal in terms of military strength, but victory is not only measured by the ability to destroy; it is by steadfastness and ability to continue. Israel did not achieve a decisive victory, but fought a long war of attrition, while the Palestinian resistance emerged more solid and able to impose a new reality in the regional equation.

In the final analysis, the fact remains that liberating the land and restoring rights can only be achieved through continuous resistance, and that every Zionist attempt to eliminate the Palestinian people will be met with a will that does not know surrender. Thus, Palestine remains the compass of the free.

The author is a Jordanian writer and contributed this piece in Arabic for the JO24 website.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Related Posts

Avi Ashkenazi: Hamas is Pushing Israeli Army Into a Quagmire

An Israeli military analyst said Friday, Hamas is waging a “guerrilla war” against the Israeli army in Gaza, and that decisions made by the current government are pushing it toward a quagmire.

Avi Ashkenazi, a military analyst for the Maariv newspaper, explained Hamas is trying to maintain its military strength, and its fighters know this territory; it is their stronghold.

“They (Hamas fighters) are not waging a defensive battle, but rather an offensive one through guerrilla cells. They monitor the Israeli forces from afar, know where they operate, their routines are, and look for their weak spots” he added.

“The cells prefer to operate in the afternoon, during daylight, when the sun is shining. When they realize the right time, they emerge from several openings of a single tunnel and begin the attack with an anti-tank missile, followed by sniper fire or the dropping of grenades,” Ashkenazi continued.

“The problem does not lie in the tactical management of the campaign by the army, but rather lies solely at the political level.”

“The political class is waging a war for political survival, and its decisions are pushing the army into a quagmire, even though Gaza has not seen a single drop of rain in weeks.”

“Israel must reach an agreement to release the hostages (held by Palestinian factions in Gaza) as soon as possible, even if the price is high, which is the release of (Palestinian) prisoners, and even if it means retreating to the border fence of Gaza, even if it means providing guarantees that the war will not resume,” he added.

“Hamas is Hamas, and sooner or later it will violate one of the terms of the agreement, which will allow Israel to move to complete the war’s objectives and deprive it of the ability to govern and militarize,” he continued.

“The wild and impudent words directed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir during the cabinet meeting illustrate the impasse facing some members of the political leadership,” Ashkenazi pointed out.

“The inability of the political echelons to make decisions makes it difficult for the army to manage the campaign (the war of extermination) well, quickly, and sharply.

When this happens in this type of campaign, where there is a large army (Israel) on the one side and a guerrilla organization (Hamas) on the other, the large army becomes vulnerable,” Ashkanazi stressed.

On Tuesday, the Israeli security cabinet meeting witnessed severe tensions between Smotrich and both Zamir and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar. The Hebrew media reported that the dispute began when Smotrich sharply criticized the army’s refusal to assume responsibility for distributing aid, arguing the army lacked the authority to choose its own missions.

He told Zamir: “Those who cannot carry out their missions should go home.” Zamir responded by rejecting these statements, prompting several ministers to ask Smotrich to lower his tone.

Throughout the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023, Tel Aviv has been attempting to impose total control over the Gaza Strip by dismembering it and displacing its population, in addition to its attempts to eliminate Hamas and recover the prisoners in Gaza.

However, Israel has been unable to fully achieve these goals over the months of war, exposing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to criticism both from the extreme right, which wants to tighten the noose on the Strip, and from leftists, who aspire to recover the prisoners from Gaza, even if the price is a ceasefire.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 168,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing according to Anadolu.

Continue reading
Military Analysis: The Gaza Resistance is Back

Military, strategic expert Major-General Fayez al-Duwairi said the recent operations carried out by the Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip, led by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, reveal a remarkable ability to perform on the ground, despite Israeli military superiority.

He added that attempts to weaken the resistance are still far off.

In a full military analysis al-Duwairi explained that what happened in Beit Hanoun and the al-Tuffah neighborhood cannot be limited to a single operation, but reflects several separate ambushes in which advanced tactics were employed, including tunnel detonations and preemptive surveillance of enemy movements.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing released a video of the “Breaking the Sword” ambush it carried out east of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, which resulted in the death of one soldier and the injury of others whilst also engineering an Israeli force that was lured into a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in the al-Tuffah neighborhood and detonated it, resulting in a number of casualties.

Al-Duwairi pointed out that the attack on the Israeli force east in Tuffah is an independent operation and believes the succession of these operations confirms the resistance’s return to the tactics of the first phase of the war, when it held the initiative.

The military expert believes these attacks reflect the resistance factions’ readiness to employ different methods in confrontation, including booby-trapping, sniping, and direct engagement at close range.

He pointed out that the video footage broadcast by the Qassam Brigades from Beit Hanoun, showing the resistance fighters infiltrating through a tunnel, demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, especially since the fighters emerged from a tunnel previously monitored by the occupation, indicating a failure of Israeli intelligence to assess the extent of the threat.

Five stages

Speaking on Al Jazeera, he explained that this complex ambush was executed in five stages, including surveillance, targeting the first vehicle, and then surprising the support force. He indicated that the resistance various weapons were used, including RPG launchers, machine guns, and mortar shells, indicating tight field coordination.

The retired major-general emphasized what was striking about the operation was that the ambush occurred in a buffer zone from which the occupation forces had not supposedly withdrawn, specifically on al-Awda Street, only about 300 meters from the separation line. This demonstrates the fighters’ great audacity and their ability to penetrate deep into Israeli territory in broad daylight.

He pointed out that field data reported by Israeli media, such as the amputation of two female soldiers’ legs as a result of the attack, confirms that the losses were heavy. The Israeli army was also forced to use 60mm mortar shells to attempt to regain control of the area after losing soldiers and equipment.

Al-Duwairi emphasized that the continuation of these ambushes and their various implementation methods prove that the resistance has not lost the initiative. Rather, it is now capable of moving whenever the opportunity arises, whether by reaching deep within the buffer zone or targeting occupation forces as they approach pre-prepared positions.

He pointed out that the tactic of the tunnel detonated east of the Tuffah neighborhood differed from the Beit Hanoun tunnel, explaining that the former involved a direct lure of an Israeli force into a booby-trapped tunnel, reflecting high-precision surveillance and the ability to remain patient on the ground until the appropriate moment for execution.

Major General Fayez al-Duwairi believes that the resistance’s field performance in recent hours reflects an important fact: The use of tunnels remains a black box for the Israeli army. He added that the ability to exploit this tactical advantage means that twisting the resistance’s arm remains out of reach.

Since the beginning of last March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, which went into effect on January 19, with Egyptian and Qatari mediation and American support, has concluded, and the movement has adhered to it.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu evaded the start of the second phase and resumed the genocide in the Gaza Strip on 18 March, in deference to the most extreme faction within his right-wing government.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since 7 October, 2023, leaving more than 168,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.

Continue reading

You Missed

Moroccans Hold 110 Protests Against Israeli Genocide

Moroccans Hold 110 Protests Against Israeli Genocide

Avi Ashkenazi: Hamas is Pushing Israeli Army Into a Quagmire

Avi Ashkenazi: Hamas is Pushing Israeli Army Into a Quagmire

The Israeli Army Kills 212 Gaza Journalists

The Israeli Army Kills 212 Gaza Journalists

Israel Starts Forced Displacement Under World Silence

Israel Starts Forced Displacement Under World Silence

Gaza Faces Public Health Crises

Gaza Faces Public Health Crises

Susan Sarandon Stands With Palestine

Susan Sarandon Stands With Palestine