[News] ‘On All Fronts’ - Has Israel Been Strategically Defeated?

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
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‘On All Fronts’ - Has Israel Been Strategically Defeated?April 9, 2024
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Is Israel losing the war? (Image: Palestine Chronicle)

*By Robert Inlakesh
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh>*

Today, the Palestinian movement for national liberation is more popular
than ever before and the Palestinian Resistance remains steadfast.

Israel initiated its war on Gaza last October with two clear goals, neither
of which have been achieved, while meanwhile they have suffered severe
blows on the military, security, political, legal, economic and public
relations fronts.

When Israel began its campaign of mass murder inside the Gaza Strip,
following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, it repeatedly named its two
primary military objectives as the total annihilation of Hamas and the
return of its political prisoners by force.
*Military Capabilities*

At this current stage, Israel has failed to even eliminate the smaller
Palestinian armed factions in Gaza, such as the Salahudeen Brigades
(Popular Resistance Committees), Mujahideen Brigades (The Mujahideen
movement), Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (PFLP) and others, let alone the much
more powerful Qassam Brigades of Hamas.

By Israel’s own admission, at least 80% of the underground tunnel
infrastructure of the Resistance groups, remains intact beneath Gaza.

As for the statistic released that some 9,000 to 12,000 Palestinian
fighters have been killed, not only has there been zero evidence to support
this claim, but Israel labels all these supposed combatants as “Hamas”,
which begs the question as to why they have not announced confirmed kills
of members of the some dozen armed groups which make up the Joint Room of
Resistance factions; all of which are participating in the battle.
*Israeli Captives*

As for the return of Israel’s captives, seized by the various Palestinian
Resistance groups on October 7, they claim to have stumbled upon a female
Israeli prisoner early into their initial ground invasion of Gaza.

She was not claimed by any faction to have been held captive by them and
was likely held by non-Resistance fighters who crossed the separation fence
on the day of the Hamas-planned military raid.

In addition to this, there was a claim that two elderly Israeli prisoners
were seized by the occupation military, for which an Al-Mayadeen report
later alleged that they were being held by a civilian family that sought to
collaborate with the Israeli army for benefits.

Other than this, the unhinged and indiscriminate Israeli aerial bombardment
of Gaza has killed at least 50 Israelis who were being held captive;
according to the Qassam Brigades. While the only significant release of
Israeli prisoners of war alive came during a prisoner exchange that was
conducted back in late November.
*Stiff Resistance*

This, as the Palestinian armed groups have continued to attack Israeli
military formations, guarded positions and penetrating forces, inflicting
significant losses on the occupation army.

The rocket fire from Gaza has also continued throughout the six months of
war, without any sign that the arsenal of weapons belonging to the
Palestinian factions is near depletion.

Despite claiming to have achieved the wiping out of the Hamas command and
control in various areas, the daily communiques and videos released by the
group indicate this to be false; while in the negotiations over a
ceasefire, Hamas refuses to bow down on its initial requests regarding an
Israeli withdrawal, the return of residents of the north to their homes and
a permanent ceasefire.

Despite the overwhelming technological, manpower and firepower advantages
of the Israeli military machine, which coordinates closely with the world’s
strongest military power, the United States, the Palestinian Resistance
factions have utilized their environment and managed to inflict a large
number of embarrassing military defeats on Israel’s most advanced army
units.

*Horror of Humanity*

All Israel has to show for its military campaign is the slaughter of around
40,000 Palestinian civilians (including the some 7,000 missing and presumed
dead), along with the annihilation of Gaza’s crucial civilian
infrastructure.

The world, watching the unhinged mass murder of civilians, roughly 70
percent of whom have been women and children, have reacted in utter horror
at one of the worst series of war crimes committed since World War 2.

The collective horror of humanity has resulted in unrelenting grassroots
protest movements throughout the planet, from South Korea to South Africa,
from Washington DC to London, there have been mass marches united in their
demand for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

Nations around the world are withdrawing ambassadors, severing diplomatic
ties, stopping arms sales and recognising the State of Palestine at the
United Nations.

Even the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which represented the leading
normalizing nation of the so-called “Abraham Accords”, has withdrawn its
ambassador, while normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel has proven
impossible; despite it being the primary foreign policy objective of the
Biden administration in West Asia.
*International Law*

South Africa achieved a landslide victory (15-2) in its case at the
International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of violations of the
Genocide Convention, with the World Court deciding that their was a
plausible case that Tel Aviv was committing a Genocide in Gaza.

This has now led to Nicaragua filing its own case at the ICJ against one of
Israel’s top arms suppliers, Germany, for aiding Israel in committing
Genocide.

A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution was passed and violated
by Israel, which had called for a ceasefire until the end of the Muslim
Holy month of Ramadan.

The UN General Assembly has also passed a resolution calling for a
ceasefire, which unanimously passed.
*Information War*

All this has made it impossible for even the most pro-Israeli leaderships
and media outlets to cover up for its crimes, with even channels like CNN
and MSNBC taking a harsher tone with the Israeli government.

On social media, the information war has been decisively won by anti-war
activists and has invigorated the younger generations of the West to take
what action they can in solidarity with the Palestinian people, placing
great pressure on Western leaderships.

While in Western popular culture, a sea of celebrities from the music,
sport and movie industry have taken strong stances in favor of Palestinian
human rights and a call for a ceasefire.

In the media, even right wing commentators that have been traditionally
pro-Israeli, have changed their tone, and the world’s top podcaster, Joe
Rogan, has labeled Israel’s actions a Genocide. The Left in the West has
also united over this issue like no other and have provided passionate
voices and a platform to defend the people of Gaza.
*Internal Divisions*

Meanwhile, Israel is left socially divided on internal domestic issues and
is without political direction.

 It appears inevitable that the far-right coalition of Israeli Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will collapse over his handling of the war.

Meanwhile, in the north of Israel, over 100,000 settlers have fled their
settlements and refuse to return, after Hezbollah has launched more than
1,200 military operations that destroyed (partially or completely) some 750
settler homes.

The economy of the north, for Israel, has been dismantled and the military
has been forced to concentrate over a hundred thousand soldiers in the area
that has placed even further financial pressure on them.

Surrounding the Gaza Strip, many of the Israeli settlements have been
deserted in whole or in part and many refuse to return home without the
defeat of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

As for in Umm al-Rashash, or what Israel calls the port city of Eilat, the
Yemeni blockade on ships passing through the Red Sea has greatly impacted
the local economy there too, as businesses go bust and economic inactivity
at the port declined by around 85% as far back as December.

In the West Bank, the Israeli military has constructed over 800 new gates
and checkpoints, while deploying more soldiers to the occupied territory
than it has in Gaza, in a desperate and costly attempt to quell an uprising.

On every front, with the exception of the cases of the Palestinian citizens
of Israel and those living in East Jerusalem, Resistance has erupted in
consistent and major ways that Tel Aviv has been forced to confront at
great expense. Even in the cases of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and
Palestinians of East Jerusalem, there have been acts of armed Resistance
and protests, just on a smaller scale to the West Bank.

Any way you look at it, the Israeli regime has been dealt a massive,
unignorable, decisive defeat in several arenas, from which it will likely
struggle to ever fully recover from.

Today, the Palestinian movement for national liberation is more popular
than ever before and the Palestinian Resistance remains steadfast.

There is no conceivable way, despite the immense suffering of the people of
Gaza, that Israel will come away from this unscathed and with its image,
military prestige and economy intact.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He
focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this
article to The Palestine Chronicle. *
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