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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://orinocotribune.com/weaponizing-despair-israel-attempts-to-turn-gaza-against-the-resistance/">orinocotribune.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Weaponizing Despair: 'Israel' Attempts to Turn Gaza Against the Resistance</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Yousef Fares</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">March 28, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><img width="450" height="265" src="https://orinocotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beit-Lahia-1024x602.webp" alt="Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip to escape 'Israeli' airstrikes, March 25, 2025. Photo: AFP." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;"></p>
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Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip to escape 'Israeli' airstrikes, March 25, 2025. Photo: AFP.</p>
<p></p></div><div id="gmail-content"><div><p>The
occupation quickly portrayed the demonstrations in Beit Lahia, northern
Gaza Strip, over the past two days as targeting the Hamas movement. In
reality, these protests neither oppose Hamas nor represent a setback for
the movement, which focuses solely on liberation. This situation
reflects varying levels of endurance typical in all liberation wars,
especially with such a heavy toll. Gaza faces unprecedented devastation
under an occupation wielding the world’s most lethal weapons, committing
atrocious crimes without hesitation, and receiving open support from
dominant powers, especially the United States.</p><p>Thousands of Gazans
demonstrated in Beit Lahia, demanding an end to the war and the
elimination of what they termed “pretexts that prolong the conflict.”
Both youth and elderly protesters carried handwritten banners declaring:
“We refuse to die,” “Our children’s blood is not cheap,” and “Stop the
war… enough is enough.” This scene unfolded in a city where the
occupation army has destroyed 90% of homes and recently ordered
residents to evacuate from their tent encampments. The occupation forces
and allied Arab media eagerly exploited these images, broadcasting
repeated mobile phone footage of a few frustrated citizens calling for
“Hamas” to withdraw “to preserve what remains and spare innocent blood.”</p><p>While
these voices do not represent the majority sentiment, they remain part
of Gaza’s social fabric—a diverse community with varying capacities to
endure hardship. The population has endured extreme pressure recently
while facing continuous displacement, siege, and starvation that deny
any chance for stability. The renewed fighting has inflicted
psychological and moral trauma on many Gazans who believed that they had
survived the worst genocide of the twenty-first century.</p><p>Under
such circumstances, Gazans deserve understanding when expressing their
anguish in whatever words they choose. Since the war began, the
occupation army has consistently tried to exploit this suffering,
supported by a coordinated media apparatus that reinforces the narrative
justifying mass killings, unjust siege, and forced displacement. The
campaign to blame Hamas and the resistance for Gaza’s destruction
extends beyond traditional media, Israeli commentators, and political
statements. Arabic-speaking enemy soldiers deliberately taunt residents
during displacement operations with phrases like: “This is what Sinwar
wants,” “Sorry for what happened to you, but Sinwar is happy,” and
“Hamas has devastated Gaza.” Occupation forces also systematically
vandalize homes they enter by writing anti-Hamas and anti-resistance
slogans on walls.</p><p>The occupation employs more than just media
pressure and psychological warfare. The occupation authorities actively
block Hamas and resistance factions from taking steps to alleviate
civilian suffering in the aftermath of war. They prevent the entry of
essential humanitarian aid agreed upon in the ceasefire protocols,
including mobile homes, tents, and electrical generators. The financial
blockade further cripples the resistance groups’ ability to mount an
emergency response matching the scale of the catastrophe. The occupation
entity treats these developments as a strategic victory. Netanyahu
gleefully highlighted the demonstrations, while his War Minister Yisrael
Katz urged all Gazans to follow Beit Lahia’s example.</p><p>But does
reality match this portrayal? Gazans universally reject being
characterized as implementing the occupation’s agenda or serving as its
ground-level pawns. The Beit Lahia protesters’ hearts are scarred by
war. Among them stands a man from the Barawi family, who lost 100
relatives to the occupation’s massacres. He declared, “We do not belong
to any faction, and we are not against the resistance. Previously, if
one of us died a natural death, we would mourn for months. Today, we ask
everyone to make concessions to stop the war, even if it means some
must leave the scene.” Abu Muhammad Al-Masri, interviewed by Al-Akhbar,
clarified, “We have a long vendetta with the occupation, and no one
should think we are turning against anyone—our vendetta is with the
occupation only. But we need a little life, a little calm, to tend to
our wounds. Is that too much to ask?”</p><p>(<a href="https://www.al-akhbar.com/arab/828195/%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AB%D9%85%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%8A--%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89--%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Al-Akhbar</a>) by Yousef Fares</p><p>Translation: Orinoco Tribune</p><p>OT/DZ/SC</p><div><p><br></p><div><p></p><h5><span>Yousef Fares</span></h5><p></p><p>Yousef Fares is a Palestinian reporter in Gaza. He is an author at Al-Akhbar News and he regularly posts updates on <a href="https://t.me/youseffares19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his telegram channel.</a></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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