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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Hamas' next move is critical: Palestinian resistance faces greatest test yet</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Dr Ramzy Baroud</div></div>
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August 9, 2022 at 1:30 pm </span>
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<img src="cid:ii_l6mdhfj80" alt="image.png" width="458" height="305"><br><p>Today, Israel <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/09/middleeast/israel-operation-militants-west-bank-nablus-intl/">assassinated</a> a
top Palestinian commander, Ibrahim Nabulsi, in Nablus, along with two
other fighters, Islam Sabbouh, and Hussein Taha. This bloody action is
intrinsically linked to the bloody <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/05/israel-strikes-gaza-amid-tensions-following-arrest-of-palestinian-militant">events</a> in Gaza over the last few days.</p>
<p>One of Israel's main objectives of the war on Gaza was to demonstrate
that Tel Aviv hasn't lost its ability to strike Palestinians in the
time and place of its choosing. So, instead of waiting for Palestinians
to respond to the <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220804-islamic-jihad-calls-for-release-of-al-saadi-as-military-wing-threatens-israel/">arrest </a>of Sheikh Bassem Al-Saadi in Jenin, Israel 'preemptively' struck Gaza, instead.</p>
<p>Within merely three days, Israeli forces <a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-death-and-destruction-the-latest-conflict-in-gaza-highlights-the-depths-of-its-humanitarian-crisis-188351">killed</a> over
40 Palestinians, many of whom were children, and wounded over 300,
mostly civilians. But since Israel cares little about Palestinian lives,
all that it mattered to Tel Aviv was the <a href="https://www.albawaba.com/news/15-children-killed-latest-israeli-attacks-gaza-1486621">killing</a> of two leading Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders, Tyseer Al-Ja'bari and Khaled Mansour, among others.</p>
<p>The above can be demonstrated in the words of the Israeli Minister of Public Security, Omar Bar-Lev, who <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-kills-three-palestinians-in-nablus-including-top-fatah-commander/">said</a> today: "As we did in Gaza recently, and Nablus today, we will carry on this way in any time and place."</p>
<p>But by striking at Palestinian resistance in all Occupied Palestine,
Israel has instead demonstrated the resistance's ability to unify their
ranks in both the West Bank and Gaza. It unwittingly proved that
Palestinian 'unity of arms' is possible.</p>
<p>For this unity to be appreciated more, a very quick history recap is required:</p>
<p>The Palestinian <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/thirty-four-years-after-first-palestinian-intifada-peace-with-israelis-remains-elusive-/6343819.html">Intifada</a> of 1987 manifested Palestinian popular unity with a minor emphasis on armed struggle. In <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170928-remembering-the-second-intifada/">the Intifada of 2000</a>, Palestinians demonstrated the unity of their armed struggle, with less emphasis on the popular aspect. But since the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20512259">death</a> of <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20150823-memo-profile-yasser-arafat-24-august-1929-11-november-2004/">Yasser Arafat </a>(2004), the <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/mahmoud-abbas-begins-17th-year-as-palestinian-president/2469645">advent</a> of Mahmoud Abbas (2005), the legislative <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/RL33269.pdf">elections</a> (2006), and the <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220614-hamas-and-fatah-battle-for-gaza-following-hamass-landslide-election-victory/">brief </a>Fatah-Hamas <a href="https://justvision.org/glossary/hamas-fatah-conflict">clashes</a> (2007),
Palestinians have lost both popular and armed unity. Due to the absence
of political unity – with Fatah ruling in the West Bank, under Israeli
military occupation, and Hamas ruling in <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180810-what-everyone-should-know-about-israels-siege-of-the-gaza-strip/">besieged Gaza </a>– Palestinians seemed to lack every communal and collective aspect of their struggle.</p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_572062" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/45-1.jpg?resize=933%2C579&is-pending-load=1#038;quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1" alt="Israel forces carry out strike in Gaza - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="458" height="284"></p><p class="gmail-wp-caption-text"><font size="1">Israel forces carry out strikes in Gaza – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]</font></p></div><p>May 2021 was a major <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210525-gaza-conflict-forged-new-sense-of-palestinian-unity-analysts">reversal</a> of
that trend, where in one stroke Palestinians managed to both redeem
their popular unity and to inject armed struggle as a form of resistance
in both the West Bank, particularly Jenin and Nablus and Gaza.</p>
<p>In its three-day war on the Gaza Strip, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/8/5/israel-pounds-gaza-killing-10-including-pij-commander-live">starting</a> on
5 August, Israel wanted to prove that it is still the dominant force
and that it holds most of the cards. But inadvertently, Tel Aviv proved
the opposite. After all, the war on Gaza was an extension of the ongoing
armed resistance in Jenin. In fact, today's <a href="https://www.albawaba.com/news/israeli-forces-kill-al-aqsa-brigades-leader-ibrahim-al-nabulsi-1486792">assassination</a> of
the top leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Nablus expands the
parameters of the Israeli fight, but also Palestinian unity.</p>
<p>Nabulsi has been a thorn in the side of the Palestinian Authority since the Brigades are the military arm of the Fatah movement.</p>
<p>Even though Israel is claiming small victories, it has sowed the
seeds of a different kind of battle, where Gaza is no longer fighting
alone and where Jenin is no longer an isolated refugee camp in the
northern West Bank.</p>
<p>Israel knows the risks, of course, but it feels that the time to
strike is now because it is aware of the political transition in
Palestine, with the expected demise of 87-year-old Mahmoud Abbas and the
rise of another leader/collaborator. An armed rebellion in the West
Bank during this transition could be disastrous for both Israel and the
PA. Israel wants to ensure that the leaders of this potential rebellion
are eliminated or incarcerated in advance, preferably the former.</p>
<p>There are many moving pieces and Israel is moving equally fast so
that it doesn't lose the element of surprise. The resistance appears,
for now, disoriented as the Israeli killing machine is moving from one
region to the other quickly.</p>
<p>The next few days are critical. If the Palestinian resistance does
not regain the initiative, even darker days await. All eyes are on Hamas
in particular, as the strongest and most popular of all of Palestine's
resistance groups. Hamas' next move is not only critical to the ongoing
fight, but to the very future and reputation of the movement.</p>
<p>The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
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