Israeli occupation forces are continually storming one of Islam’s Holiest Sites during Ramadan, attacking Palestinian worshippers, in what looks like a carbon copy of last year’s escalation. After the bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, will this turn into another war like we saw in May of 2021?
Israeli occupation forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last Friday, resulting in the injuring of 350 Palestinians onsite, 117 of which needed hospital care. In what the Western mainstream media described as “clashes”, heavily armed Israeli occupation forces began opening fire with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at worshippers, following a protest at the site that started after Fajr (morning) prayers. The Israeli forces injured Palestinians who were throwing stones at them, but also unarmed worshippers, journalists, medical workers, women, children and even shot a Jordanian guard of the Holy Site in the eye socket. For roughly four hours, Israeli occupation forces assaulted one of the prayer halls on site and besieged it. The Israeli forces smashed in the Mosque’s windows, fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live ammunition at those inside the building.
Later that Monday, after countless threats too retaliate to Israeli provocations, one of Gaza’s armed groups — presumed to be part of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — fire a single rocket into an open area in the nearby Israeli Eshkol area. The rocket did not make any known impact and Israel announced that their air defense systems had attempted to shoot the projectile down. Later on Tuesday morning, around 2 AM (Gaza time), Israeli warplanes bombarded sites in Khan Yunis, located in southern Gaza. However, the air raids didn’t go quite to plan, the al-Qassam brigades [Hamas armed wing] announced that they had deployed a newly acquired air defense weapon. The Israeli military acknowledged that some sort of guided surface to air missile had been fired at their attacking fighter jets. Later, an alleged source that is close to the al-Qassam brigades told Al-Mayadeen News that the group had for the first time used a type of ‘Strela’ short-range surface-to-air missile system. The source stated that Israeli fighter jets were forced to leave Gaza’s airspace in light of one of these missiles being fired.
Behind all the escalating violence, which has also been ongoing inside the West Bank too, are the political realities which underpin it. On the Israeli side of things, the ruling coalition has already lost its 61 member majority, which it needed to hold the government together. The Ra’am Party, of Mansour Abbas, also temporarily suspended its position in the coalition, further putting the future of Naftali Bennett’s leadership into question and posing the question as to whether Ra’am will withdraw its four Knesset members entirely in the event of war with Gaza. Currently, the Israeli opposition, headed by Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu, is looking for an opening to stage a vote of no-confidence in the government, which would take at least 61 votes from the 120 seat Knesset.
Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, has given all Israeli forces “a free hand” to use whatever measures they feel are necessary to address Palestinian threats. This order followed criticism of Bennett, who came under fire from right wing Israelis for not doing enough to stop attacks inside Israel. However, this ruling triggered by Bennett may well be a marker for his possible ensuing political suicide. Israeli forces, especially those who may have some loyalties to the Israeli opposition or get carried away with their freedom to do whatever they choose to Palestinians, may end up triggering part two of last May’s 11-day war.
It is clear that Palestinians are growing more enraged by the day and it seems a confrontation between armed Palestinian factions and Israel is inevitable. If this is to be the case, Israel is engaging in a losing strategy for the second year running. It is actively taking the most provocative steps, effectively ensuring that Palestinians from all the territories and the general public around the world will take to the streets.
For the ‘Joint Room’ of Palestinian armed resistance factions in Gaza, it is strategically smart for them to allow for the rage to build — without responding — and for Jerusalem to be the issue which starts the conflict. If, like happened last year, Palestinian citizens of Israel, Jerusalemites, and West Bankers are all taking to the streets and organizing general strikes, this will create hell for Israel. Last May, Palestinians protested in the thousands at the Jordanian and Lebanese borders as well, whilst local Palestinian armed groups fired rockets from Syria and southern Lebanon. With the power of Palestinians everywhere, the Gazan armed groups can then jump in to open fire on Israel, striking it militarily and forcing its cities to go on lockdown.
It is not just Gaza that Israel has to worry about either, according to the Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, a regional confrontation could also be on its way. Nasrallah stated shortly after the war, last May, that Hezbollah would consult with regional partners about creating a situation in which an attack on Jerusalem — similar to what happened in 2021 — would mean regional war. Later, Iraqi groups, that are part of the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) vowed that they would join this fight, along with Yemen’s Ansarallah. If this is to happen, Israel will have to fight Palestinian armed factions in Jenin, Gaza, and also take on the threats from Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq. All of this could have been avoidable, but for now Israel continues to ramp up the conflict.
