The flood from Gaza

Israel’s elites and public have been dealt the biggest hit to their morale in 50 years

Now we know why Mohammad Daif, the leader of Hamas’ military wing in the Gaza Strip, disappeared from public view nearly two years ago, ever since the ‘Jerusalem Sword’ campaign. He was making plans and preparations for a counterstrike. On Saturday, he emerged, alongside spokesman ‘Abu-Obaida’, to announce it.

They declared the start of ‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’, describing it as a battle to end the longest occupation on the planet. Thousands of rockets were launched within a matter of minutes, confounding Israel’s much-hype air defence systems, and fighters broke out of the besieged territory to storm Israeli settlements in the Gaza Envelope.

The images of the operation posted on social media were astonishing: Merkava tanks on fire, their crews being dragged out and pleading for mercy, and settlers fleeing in panic, their appeals for help going unheeded. At this writing, more than 100 Israelis had been reported killed and scores captured to be used as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The impact on the morale of Israel’s elites and public has been gigantic. Its political, security, and military establishments have been dealt their biggest blow in 50 years, since the October 1973 war. When the army ranked as the world’s fourth most powerful cannot prevent or react to the targeting of supposedly secure settlers in Israel ‘proper’, that is a sign of serious decline.

Regardless how events unfold in the days and weeks to come, the resistance has achieved a huge victory. This is a long war. Israel may unleash death and destruction on a gigantic scale, but it will not emerge unscathed itself. And if it escalates into a regional war on multiple fronts, the writing will be clearly on the wall.

The thought, planning, and management that went into this operation matches anything taught at the world’s top military academies. When videos of fighters training for it were posted on social media, they were ridiculed by Israel and its normalising Arab allies. So much for all those Sandhurst and West Point graduates. Daif never claimed any military title, but he deserves the rank of ‘general’ far more than any of the heavily medalled and overweight commanders of Arab armies who do little more than stage parades and earn corrupt commissions on arms deals.

Remember this date, 7 October. It may mark a historic turning-point in the Arab world, from a period of submission, surrender, normalisation, and delusions about the enemy as protector, to one of dignity and liberation — the total liberation of Palestine.
Netanyahu has declared a state of war, threatened a devastating response, and called up his army’s reservists. But what can he do that he has not already done? Kill hundreds more innocent people in Gaza? It would not be the first time. And it could trigger a devastating rection that reaches as far as Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem.

Islamic Jihad joined Hamas in this battle, as did all the armed resistance wings of the major Palestinian factions. The resistance brigades in the West Bank — in Jenin Nablus, Tulkarem, and potentially Hebron — have been inspired and, with their solid base of popular support, have started joining the fight. And it cannot be ruled out that components of the axis of resistance in Lebanon and Syria, and even Yemen and Iraq, will do so too in the foreseeable future, if not sooner.