eHalal Palestine
🇵🇸 Israeli Troops Face Disaster: Gaza Becomes Graveyard of Zionism
After nearly five months of invasion and genocide, the Israeli troops are facing a disastrous outcome. According to the Wall Street Journal, 80 percent of Hamas’ underground tunnels have remained intact, indicating that the infrastructure of resistance and its troops have suffered virtually no damage. Three-quarters of Palestinians believe in victory, pointing to very high morale within the ranks of the resistance forces.
The same cannot be said for the invading forces. The number of casualties is already at the highest in Israel’s history, which it has suffered in previous armed conflicts against Palestinian resistance – a “historic” figure, according to the Washington Post’s definition. And as time passes, the agony of the Israeli “defense forces” in the quicksand of Gaza grows larger. These casualty figures are currently rising much faster than at the beginning of the operations – including 21 soldiers who were killed in a single attack by Hamas on January 23 – while the invaders simultaneously lose their positions captured in the northern Gaza Strip.
This favorable situation for the forces fighting against Israel in Gaza is thanks to the support of the population for the revolutionary war. According to a study by the Arab Group for Global Research and Development, three-quarters of Palestinians support the Al-Aqsa Storm and believe in a positive role for Hamas. At least half of Palestinians also believe that Hamas is fighting for the freedom of Palestine. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research came to the same conclusion. A survey by the Washington Institute also shows that the majority of Palestinians support Hamas and other resistance groups.
Another survey by the Arab Barometer shows that the Al-Aqsa Storm is not the result of an isolated stance by Hamas, but rather the pressure exerted by the Palestinian people on the leaders of the resistance: before October 7, the majority of Palestinians criticized Hamas for not doing enough against the Israeli occupation.
The approximately 40,000 Hamas fighters include thousands of fighters from Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the General Command of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and fighters from many other participating organizations who are actively engaged in fighting against the Israeli occupiers, collectively forming the Palestinian resistance. According to numbers released by the Israeli army, not even five percent of the opposing combatants have been eliminated so far.
The political consciousness of the Palestinian people is rapidly evolving thanks to the lessons learned from this war. According to statistics published in The Cradle, only 41 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have a positive opinion of Iran’s stance, likely indicating that they expect a more assertive policy toward Israel from Tehran, after Iran has become a bastion of anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist struggle in the Middle East. The popularity of the Houthis – with 68 percent approval – and Hezbollah with 63 percent, both independent popular movements from the ruling class, is comparatively much higher, while only 11 percent have a positive opinion of the role of the UN.
But it was not only the ordinary Palestinians who sharpened their political consciousness. The same goes for the revolutionary leadership. Palestinian resistance has no confidence in supranational institutions such as the International Court of Justice and will only accept an end to its current operations under the condition of a complete withdrawal of Israel from Gaza. Faced with repeated defeats on the battlefield and the spectacular blockade of the Bab al-Mandab Strait by the Houthis, Israel will increasingly be inclined to accept the conditions of the resistance.