Despite the destruction of infrastructure and the elimination of more than 186,000 Palestinians, according to the Lancet, the majority being children and women, the Palestinian people continue to exhibit patience, resilience, patriotism, attachment to their homeland and unconditional support for their resistance, with images highlighting the legendary persistence of the Palestinian nation among the ruins of the Gaza Strip, amidst unbearable pain and suffering.
Meanwhile, there is despair and reverse immigration with the flight of one million extremist settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel behaves as if it has already lost the war, on the battlefield of Gaza, the occupied West Bank and the rest of historic Palestine. Israel is trapped in the terrible quagmire of Gaza and bleeding, in a situation where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on prolonging the war to maintain his political position and delay his corruption trial.
Adding to these fronts of tension for Israel, is the attack by the Yemeni Armed Forces – the Houthis – using a hypersonic ballistic missile that struck Tel Aviv on Sunday, revealing Israel’s weakness at all levels. The missile travelled 2,040 kilometres in 11 and a half minutes without being intercepted.
Netanyahu initiated a genocide in Gaza on 7 October with the supposed objectives of “destroying Hamas” and “liberating the Israelis detained” under the custody of the resistance. The prime minister, who leads the far-right Likud Party, stated that faced with any kind of pressure, whether internal or external, the war will continue until all objectives yet to be achieved are accomplished.
On the northern front, the army is engaged in deadly clashes with the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, which has been imposing successive defeats on Israel and exhausting plans based on excessive military force. The war in Gaza is a situation from which the Zionist regime has no exit. The attack on 7 October was a decisive blow, a wound from which Israel will not heal and neither will imperialism be able to save it.
Former chief of operations of the Zionist army, Israel Ziv, declared to Israeli Channel 12 that Israel’s war in Gaza has become the longest and most exhausting war in the history of the Zionist entity. According to his assessment, the Zionist regime and Israeli forces are trapped in the “terrible quagmire of Gaza” and the only way out is the immediate withdrawal of the troops.
Israel has already lost the battle in world public opinion, through the evident rise in unpopularity of the Zionist state all over the planet. The constant casualties of Israel in all territories and the Zionists’ search for an “honourable exit” demonstrate that Hamas is not a defeated enemy, but a resilient adversary that dictates the rules of combat with those who have sworn its destruction.
OPINION: The third intifada is in its gestation period
A series of dangers is brewing for the continuation of the Zionist occupation. In addition to the failure in all attempts to destroy the Islamic Resistance Movement and occupy Gaza definitively, the escalation of violence in the West Bank and the ghost of a Third Intifada, Israel has proven unable to wage a large-scale war against Hezbollah, a foe more formidable than Hamas and which has great military capability.
Zionist soldiers have proven unable to engage in a close-combat conflict against Palestinian fighters. It is no coincidence that military reports indicate an increase in alcohol and drug use, as well as self-harm and suicide in the Zionist army, in addition to depression caused by mental stress and fear of death in direct combat.
It is precisely in this regard that the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Al-Quds Brigades and other resistance groups are demonstrating preparedness to operate in terrain with the characteristics of Gaza and the West Bank. It is a type of confrontation where Israeli air support and artillery lose their effectiveness because they cannot attack without simultaneously endangering their own soldiers.
But above all, and most importantly, the fighters of the resistance have the spirit of courage and martyrdom, which enables them to maintain their advantage as jihadist fighters in this war, requiring tactical methods suitable for this type of confrontation, knowing how to use the terrain and properly monitor the movements of Zionist forces.
Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip will not be able to achieve any of its aggressive objectives, especially the annihilation of Palestinian resistance. Palestinians will be victorious through the arms of resistance because Israel cannot become a nefarious model of colonialism, oppression and extermination of indigenous people.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.