Israel isn’t winning

Why the US vetoed a Gaza Strip cease-fire

To understand the real reason the US vetoed the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, I refer you to Saturday’s rare report in Yediot Ahronoth about the unprecedented numbers of casualties sustained by the Israel military in the two months since it began its genocidal assault.

The paper revealed that at least 5,000 soldiers have been wounded since the start of the war on October 7. Of these, 2,000 are recognized as disabled, 58 percent have severe injuries requiring major surgery or amputations, and many are also psychologically traumatized.

The Biden administration which is arming and funding Israel and supporting it politically, is aware of the scale of this defeat, which is also a direct defeat for itself. It therefore vetoed a ceasefire and gave the Israeli butchers four more weeks to continue their destruction and slaughter in the hope they could complete their task of defeating Hamas and the other resistance groups.

This decision is a mark of shame on the history of the United States of America. It exposes all its false claims about democracy and human rights, will most certainly damage its interests in many parts of the world (especially the Arab and Islamic worlds), and could threaten its own internal unity, further polarise its politics, and hasten its drift toward civil war.

Continuing Israel’s war of extermination and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, the world’s largest prison, will not result in the defeat of Hamas. Nor will the movement’s popular support base surrender or submit to Israel’s plans to expel the population. They believe in resistance, and have become more supportive by the day of Hamas and its fighters since their stunning raid on Israeli military positions and settlements in the Gaza Envelope.

As Israel’s active and direct partner, the US shares responsibility for the 20,000 civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, the 50,000+ injuries, and the displacement of two million people. With no shelter, they now face starvation in the almost complete absence of aid or the very basics of life such as water, electricity, fuel, and communications. Were it not for the Biden administration setting up an airlift to rush ammunition, missiles, drones, and military spare parts to Israel, its campaign would have partially or wholly collapsed.

The occupation state does not reveal the numbers of its dead and injured, and imposes strict military censorship on Israeli and foreign media to hide the truth from its demoralised settlers. The figures cited by Yediot Ahronoth are only preliminary, and only cover reservists and police but not active-duty military. The true numbers could be far higher. Netanyahu and his cronies Gallant and Gantz have yet to announce any victory—unless the mass killing of children is considered a victory — but concede that the army has taken losses and is having a tough time.
The Security Council veto has left the US isolated and repudiated by the rest of the world and accused of state terrorism and war crimes. But it will not end or reduce the resistance’s successes in the Gaza war; it will only increase their number and effectiveness.

It is too early to talk of victory, but I am confident that it will come within weeks. In the Arab world, fifth columnists are trying to promote a culture of despair, division, and surrender on social media by highlighting the scale of the death inflicted in the Gaza Strip. They should be reminded that the heroic Algerian people lost a million martyrs in their successful struggle against French colonialism, and the Iraqi and Afghan lost even more to rid themselves of American-led occupation. The greater the sacrifice the greater its impact, and may all the martyrs rest in peace.

Israel isn’t winning