Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the “successful” Israeli ground military operation in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, is coming to an end. In his statement, he stated that the troops currently fighting in Rafah will be transferred to the north of occupied Palestine, where they will defend the border and participate in a possible invasion of Lebanon. He cited the destruction of the Hamas “Rafah Brigade” as the biggest success of the operation in Rafah.
However, such statements are not only not true, but also show the evident frustrations of Israeli officials and the Israeli army, who boast of non-existent victories, which in reality are huge defeats and which initiate new military operations, which, like all previous ones, are doomed to failure.
The real situation on the ground is clearer, if you look at the published videos of the actions of the Resistance, the effectiveness of which has been increasing in the past period, as well as from the statements of the soldiers themselves and officials from the Israeli army. An increasing number of people in the IOS, from the lowest to the highest ranks, are publicly saying that they do not know what they are fighting for in Gaza and that the fighting ability of the Resistance has not decreased at all in any part of Gaza, after 9 months of war. In addition, in their statements, these people deny the claims about hundreds of killed members of the Resistance and about the areas “cleansed” of the Resistance.
It is true that Israeli soldiers almost never see members of the Resistance, but that they are underground and come out only when they are ambushed. Also, in all the areas that Israel has declared “cleared” of the Resistance, the Resistance has returned, which is why IOS is constantly attacking the same areas again and again, such as the recent attack on the Jabalia camp.
The ability of the Resistance
As for the combat readiness of the Resistance itself, it is also evident from the available materials, which show systematic and coordinated attacks on the Israeli army, and which say that the Palestinian resistance preserved both the technique itself and even progressed in that domain, as well as command and organizational structure, without which the long-term conduct of military operations is impossible.
In support of this is the information that on 24 June, the Resistance used a new weapon called the “Red Arrow”, which is a guided anti-tank system with a range of up to 4 kilometres. The first victim of this new type of weapon was an Israeli engineering vehicle. On 19 June, a kamikaze drone attack was carried out against Israeli forces, deep inside Israeli territory.
West Bank
Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as in Gaza, can be characterized as a policy of terror seduction, behind which new land grabs are hidden. Mass incursions into West Bank cities, during which civilians are often randomly killed or taken away, have had the opposite effect of the one Israel desired. Instead of a fear-stricken population, Israeli incursions are now regularly greeted by a militantly disposed population, which charges Israel more and more with each subsequent incursion and each subsequent raid.
From Jenin, which was practically alone in this type of fighting at the beginning of the war, now the battle line broke through to other cities – Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Tubas and Balata, where Israel also intensified its actions.
While the Resistance is fighting the occupation, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is increasingly aiding the occupation, kidnapping Resistance members and their families, their weapons, escorting colonizer buses and increasingly attacking Resistance members. Although the Palestinian resistance until now had a policy of attacking only the Israeli occupation, due to such actions of the PS, the Palestinian resistance in retaliation began to carry out attacks against them as well. An example of such an attack is the attack on the headquarters of the Security Forces of the Palestinian Self-Government on June 30, after members of the PS broke into the house of one of the members of the Resistance.
Protests in Israel
As the contradictions within the Israeli state pile up, the anti-government protests become more and more massive and violent. After the Israeli parliament passed a law requiring ultra-orthodox Jews to serve in the army, from which they have been exempted for decades, huge protests and riots broke out.
These protests are just one of the numerous, now regular protests against the Israeli government, in which Israelis protest Israel’s inability to return the hostages from Gaza, to return normal life to the settlements around Gaza and in the north, the economic crisis, as well as the war in which they are suffering the growing number of Israeli soldiers.
