There is no doubt that the sense of injustice and hopelessness prompted the events Israel witnessed on 7 October, when Hamas shocked Israel and the world by launching a painful attack against the occupier. Despite knowing that Tel Aviv’s response would be severe and that the balance of power was lopsided, the Palestinian resistance had no choice but to engage in an unequal war in which civilians would pay the price for tipping the scales and forcing their cause back into the spotlight after it had been pushed to the side. When the fighting stops, both sides will assess their gains and losses before heading back to the negotiating table.
The war appears to have taken a heavy toll thus far, and its consequences appear to be significant. According to sources cited at the time the article was written, the West Bank saw 58 fatalities and more than 1,250 injuries, while the Gaza Strip saw 3,000 fatalities and close to 10,000 injuries among Palestinian civilians. On the Israeli side, over 1,300 people, including 291 officers and soldiers, were killed.
The occupation forces reported that they bombed 750 targets in the Gaza Strip with approximately 6,000 shells weighing 4,000 tonnes on Thursday. According to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli military has dropped munitions on the Gaza Strip with the destructive power of a quarter of a nuclear bomb. This means that Israel is openly committing war crimes, blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, and employing weapons that are prohibited under international law—all in an area of just 365 square kilometres, home to over two and a half million people.
Israel’s goals in this escalation are to reestablish its credibility and cripple Hamas’ ability to govern the Gaza Strip. However, it lacks any sort of plan or anticipation of what might come next. The Israeli government is hastily attempting to topple Hamas without first considering how they might end the conflict, which leaves the future of Gaza and the region wide open.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Palestinian cause, one thing is certain: it will not be the same as it was before 7 October. The Al-Aqsa operation and subsequent Israeli bombing of Gaza will have far-reaching consequences. The collective minds of Arabs and Israelis are the first to feel the effects. The ability of the resistance to enter and control settlements, capture civilians and soldiers without being stopped by Israeli military and intelligence forces, and successfully traverse the wall separating Gaza and its environs by land, sea, and air—all in the face of the complete absence of enemy forces—will have a significant impact on the mobilization of the Arab peoples, for whom these scenes had the potential to instill confidence and hope that new victories would be recorded, restoring the Arab people’s worth and influence while elevating the Palestinian cause to its rightful place.
The scenes and images of the Palestinians shattering the myth of the invincible Israeli army, on the other hand, instilled fear into the Israelis’ hearts and minds and destroyed a great deal of the arrogance that the founding generation sought to implant in the minds of succeeding generations. Suddenly and without warning, occupied Palestine ceased to be a haven for Jews and their dreamed-of promised land. They were surrounded by danger on all sides, and they lost their sense of security, which will never return unless a two-state solution-based peace is achieved.
The war will have an impact on normalization paths as well. Here, it is important to keep in mind that normalization in reality involves more than just Israel and is being driven by the West, led by the United States. All the stories they were using to sell normalization, which were based on extolling Israel’s strength and enormous military and intelligence capabilities, collapsed when the first Palestinian resistance group breached the separation wall.
If the war in Gaza continues, especially in light of Tel Aviv’s threat to carry out a bloody ground invasion and evict thousands of Gazans, some countries will be prompted to withdraw from the normalization agreements or put them on hold for an extended period of time
All of this is still the direct fault of Netanyahu’s government. It will be in an unenviable position, as it will be forced to choose between two scenarios: either it carries out its threats by launching a ground operation and plunges the area into a comprehensive war, the aftermath of which it will not be able to bear, or it ignores peace slogans and continues to bomb helpless civilians and target women and children before admitting defeat and going back to the negotiation table – if there will still be room for dialogue.
