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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Al-Qassam’s Latest Numbers Should Terrify Israel - Is the Resistance Growing Stronger?</h1>December 7, 2023</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Resistance_Gaza_PC.png" alt="" title="Resistance_Gaza_PC" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="427" height="287" style="margin-right: 25px;">
The Israeli army was met with stiff Palestinian resistance in Gaza. (Image: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-editors" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Editors">Palestine Chronicle Editors</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>The Resistance must have learned from its experience of a
two-month-long war against Israel, including over 40 days of street
fighting. </span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>As soon as the Israeli army began advancing into Gaza on October 27, as soon as it was met with stiff Palestinian resistance. </span></p>
<p><span>This resistance, however, seems to be getting stronger with time. But why is this the case? </span></p>
<p><span>For days before the land invasion, and starting on October 7,
Israel began a process of systematic destruction of Gaza, resorting to
the fire belts strategy – essentially burning everything on its way, and
leveling numerous neighborhoods and residential squares to create a
path for its future invasion. </span></p>
<p><span>The outcome was the killing of thousands of Palestinians and
the kind of massacres unprecedented in the history of the Palestinian
struggle against the Israeli occupation. </span></p>
<p><span>Entering Gaza, however, was no easy task. Dozens of tanks and
other military vehicles were destroyed in the early days of the Israeli
invasion. </span></p>
<p><span>Israel must have anticipated this, as it has indeed prepared
its public for difficult days ahead, per the words of various members of
Israel’s War Council. </span></p>
<p><span>On November 8, these ‘difficult days’ seemed, more or less, over, when Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-military-spokesperson-says-hamas-has-lost-control-northern-gaza-2023-11-08/"><span>declared</span></a><span> “Hamas has lost control and is continuing to lose control in the north.”</span></p>
<p><span>This statement in particular was meant to highlight that Israel was ready for the next stage of its war: invading the south. </span></p>
<p><span>The reality on the ground, however, reflected either the
Israeli military’s lack of awareness of the situation in northern Gaza,
or the politicians’ rush to declare any kind of achievement, however
superficial. </span></p>
<p><span>As soon as Israel began its ground operation in southern Gaza
on December 4, Palestinian Resistance in the north emerged even stronger
than the early days of the war. </span></p>
<p><span>One reason behind this is the ceasefire, a brief humanitarian truce that allowed some badly needed aid to enter the Strip. </span></p>
<p><span>The aid was hardly enough to stave off mass starvation amid a
genocidal war and the displacement of most of Gaza’s population. But it
did, in fact, allow the Resistance to regroup and develop new
strategies. </span></p>
<p><span>When Israel returned to war on December 1, it was obvious that a
major retreat had taken place in northern Gaza. A top Al-Qassam
Brigades official estimated, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, that
nearly 70 percent of all Israeli forces were pulled back from northern
Gaza.</span></p>
<p><span>He attributed this retreat to the strength of the Palestinian Resistance.</span></p>
<p><span>For Israel, that decision may have also been motivated by the
belief that while the Resistance in northern Gaza may have not been
fully eliminated, it must have surely grown weaker. </span></p>
<p><span>But in recent days, Israeli military analysts, journalists and
some officials began to contend with the inescapable truth that northern
Gaza has not fallen in the hands of the Israeli military. </span></p>
<p><span>Far from it. Not only is northern Gaza still fighting, but
according to statements issued by Al-Qassam Brigades, the Resistance in
Gaza, north and south, is stronger than ever before. </span></p>
<p><span>For example, Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the
Al-Qassam Brigades, has said that “in the last 72 hours, Al-Qassam
fighters completely or partially destroyed 135 military vehicles in all
fighting axes in the Gaza Strip.”</span></p>
<p><span>These military vehicles, and understandably a large number of
Israeli soldiers, operating and manning them, have also been taken out
in all areas of the Gaza Strip.</span></p>
<p><span>This includes the furthest northern point of Gaza, where the Israelis had entered in the first hours of the land invasion. </span><span>These
areas also include Shejaiya, east of Gaza City, which, too, was
included in the supposedly conquered regions of the Strip. </span></p>
<p><span>The new ratio offered by Abu Obeida – nearly two Israeli
military vehicles per hour – is the highest ratio of destruction
inflicted upon the Israeli army within a three-day period since the
start of the war. </span></p>
<p><span>But why is this the case?</span></p>
<p><span>First, the Resistance must have learned from its experience of a
two-month-long war against Israel, including over 40 days of street
fighting. </span></p>
<p><span>Second, that much time has also alerted the Resistance to the
most and least effective ways of repelling Israeli advancements – not
only in terms of weapons, but also military strategies and even the very
temperament of the soldiers. </span></p>
<p><span>Third, the introduction of new kinds of weapons, including the
Al-Ghoul sniper rifle, which has been developed by the Gaza Resistance
itself and is used with high efficiency whenever Israeli troops dare to
leave their fortified military vehicles. </span></p>
<p><span>Fourth, the psychological impact of the war. If Israel had
assumed, in the early days of the war, that ethnic cleansing and
genocide would eventually break the spirit of those fighting on the
ground, it miscalculated.</span></p>
<p><span>Indeed, the high casualty among Palestinians – nearly 100,000
killed, wounded and remained missing since the start of the war – has
given the Resistance a much higher cause to fight: to avenge their
families and to protect those who remained alive. </span></p>
<p><span>And finally, by destroying large swathes of Gaza – nearly half
of Gaza has been obliterated – the Israeli military strategy has indeed
backfired. Palestinian fighters are finding it easier to detonate
buildings where Israeli soldiers are taking shelter, to find hiding
spots in the rubble, while still efficiently utilizing the countless
local tunnels to strike and return to their positions safely. </span></p>
<p><span>Though Israeli military estimates suggest that Israel may need
another month to conclude its most destructive war on the Gaza Strip,
the Israeli army should expect even greater resistance over every inch
of Gaza, from the furthest point south to the furthest point of the
supposedly conquered north. </span></p>
<p><i><span>(The Palestine Chronicle)</span></i></p>
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