A series of coordinated attacks, conducted by the Palestinian Islamist liberation fighter group Hamas, from the Gaza Strip onto bordering areas in Israel, commenced on Saturday 7 October 2023, a Sabbath day and date of several Jewish holidays. The attacks, referred to as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and Black Saturday in Israel, initiated the ongoing 2023 Israel–Hamas war, nearly fifty years to the day after the Yom Kippur War began on 6 October 1973. The attack began in the early morning with a rocket barrage of at least 3,000 rockets against Israel and vehicle-transported incursions into occupied territory. Palestinian fighters breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, targeting and taking civilians as hostages and attacking military bases. Reportedly, so far, more than 9000 Palestinian have been killed in IDF attacks in Gaza and more than 200 have been killed in the West Bank area, more than 23000 badly injure and IDF strikes on civilian population centers, hospitals, ambulances, schools, places of worship and humanitarian aid vehicles and camps continues unabated, paying no heed to ceasefire resolutions by the UNO and international communities. The dead and wounded include almost 50% children and women, Gaza has been turned in to a rubble with thousand buried underneath, mostly small kids; and thousand have been taken as prisoners. Israeli casualties are far less with around 240 hostages taken by Hamas.
While there have been smaller conflicts, there were no other major engagements between Hamas and Israelis since the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. An anonymous source "close to Hamas" claimed that Hamas reduced military activity in a deliberate effort to deceive Israel into believing Hamas was not a threat. Mohammed Deif, commander of the attack, named the operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" in reference to the 2022 Al-Aqsa clashes, in which Israeli police raided the mosque following clashes between Palestinians and police. Reportedly, Hamas fighters prepared in at least six training camps across the Gaza Strip for two years before the attack. This involved conducting practice hostage takings, storming of mock Israeli settlements, and training with para gliders. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus stated that such training facilities were "nothing new" and that Israel had "struck many training areas over the years in the different rounds of escalation."
What has been projected by the Israeli and American sources as revelations after the Hamas greatest tactical, operational and strategic surprise, either to cover up their intelligence failure to pre-empt or as a ruse to hide the induced attack by Hamas is beyond belief either way. As per them, the tunnel network, known as the "Gaza metro," serves Hamas for storage, movement, and command. Hamas used hardwired phone lines within the tunnels for covert communication over two years, evading Israeli intelligence. This allowed a successful surprise attack on Israel, with specific plans disclosed shortly before the operation, catching intelligence agencies off guard. The surprise attack by Hamas, undetected preparations, quantum of rockets fired, failure of Iron Dome air defence system, much delayed reaction by the IDF, casualties/ hostages taken accepted and immediately jumping in of USA/ UK and other allies including India in the so called war between a ragtag militant group and the most modern Armed Forces is mind boggling to say the least. Therefore, one finds more indications of a planned chaos and destruction like 9/11 of the USA and its backlash for the Muslim world including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, and Syria; and for Iran and Pakistan by other ways and means. Hence, besides many other strategic reasons, it smacks of American-Israeli Deep States’ deeper cut. well-orchestrated to finish the unfinished agenda of taking down Nuclear Pakistan and potential nuclear Iran, both declared repeatedly by Netanyahu as the greatest threat to Israel and to American interests/ game plan in the Middle East. According to Noam Chomsky,“Israel's demonstration of its military prowess in 1967 confirmed its status as a 'strategic asset,' as did its moves to prevent Syrian intervention in Jordan in 1970 in support of the PLO. Under the Nixon doctrine, Israel and Iran were to be 'the guardians of the Gulf,' and after the fall of the Shah, Israel's perceived role was enhanced. Meanwhile, Israel has provided subsidiary services elsewhere, including Latin America, where direct US support for the most murderous regimes has been impeded by Congress. While there has been internal debate and some fluctuation in US policy, much exaggerated in discussion here, it has been generally true that US support for Israel's militarization and expansion reflected the estimate of its power in the region. The effect has been to turn Israel into a militarized state completely dependent on US aid, willing to undertake tasks that few can endure, such as participation in Guatemalan genocide. For Israel, this is a moral disaster and will eventually become a physical disaster as well. For the Palestinians and many others, it has been a catastrophe, as it may sooner or later be for the entire world, with the growing danger of superpower confrontation.”
There are a lot of debates still going on in order to figure out as to how could few thousand Hamas fighters living under complete siege of a small sized Gaza Strip ( 41 kilometers (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, and has a total area of 365 k
m2 roughly the size of Washington DC, with 2.3 million population) and with heavy sprinkle of Israeli human and technical intelligence all over Gaza, achieve such detailed preparations and conduct execution undetected deep inside Israel occupied areas? After all Israel is considered to be the 5th technologically most advanced armed forces duly backed up by the USA/UK and other allies like India. So why just a few hours after the motley Hamas fighters’ presumably induced incursions, Israel puts global media monopoly to use and made hue and cry as it had been invaded by a Super Power, suffering another holocaust and USA responded with alacrity… politically, diplomatically and militarily by moving its Aircraft carriers, destroyers and air force in support of Israel making UN Security council inert and UN General Assembly as a dud. The well-known US obedient allies like UK also flies in military supplies physically by none less than her British Indian Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, while other NATO and The Five Eyes (‘FVEY’ is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) playing their conniving roles on the UN forums and on other global fields. The American President, American ambassador in UN and Secretary of State in unison with Israeli hardliner and most controversial Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far right extremist cabinet ministers have openly stated that things won’t go back to October 6th, 2023 , ordering hostile Palestinian settlers to vacate Gaza or get killed as there would not be a ceasefire; how cruel that the occupiers are asking the real owners to vacate the land already turned form the largest global prison to the greatest global graveyard of innocent Palestinians, majority of whom are small children and women. Not only the world conscience once again appears virtually dead; but equally greater are the chances for turning the whole region into yet another war zone for fighting proxy wars on the Middle East turf this time around. “You can't have occupation and human rights. And the original Zionist slogan—'a land without a people for a people without a land'—disclosed its own negation when I saw the densely populated Arab towns dwelling sullenly under Jewish tutelage. You want irony? How about Jews becoming colonizers at just the moment when other Europeans had given up on the idea?”(Christopher Hitchens, Hitch 22: A Memoir).
“The new crimes that the US and Israel were committing in Gaza as 2009 opened, do not fit easily into any standard category—except for the category of familiarity.” (Noam Chomsky, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War against the Palestinians). The recent Hamas retaliatory attacks remind of the big powers’ choreographed division and infighting between North and South Vietnam, North and South Koreas, North and South Sudan, North and South Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and Syria, and within Palestine between Hamas and Fatah, Lebanese Hezbollah…so on and so forth. According to A.J. Deus, “The custom to put others in the line of fire is a recurring theme in Judaism. It boils down to the Levite Korahites’ willingness to sacrifice their ordinary Jewish subjects in order to ensure their own survival. This should be a historic warning to modern-day Israelites; their orthodox government would not hesitate to risk the lives of the many for the sake of the survival of the few in the orthodox elite. The citizens of Israel will have to think about how to remove the systemic threat that comes from within their own ranks.”
As for Pakistan, what commenced with becoming member of the defunct CENTO and SEATO, letting America have her military and Spy bases in Pakistan, willfully accepting a Cat’s Paw role for petty gains i.e. getting induced and fighting a so called Jihad by creating Taliban against former Soviet Union (1979-1990) and yet again getting trapped to play second fiddle in so called War against Terrorism against yesterday’s Mujaheddin, ironically re-tagged as Terrorist Afghan and Pakistani Taliban (2001-2021) in the backdrop of largely believed biggest stage managed 9/11 attacks drama in USA; with catastrophic pitfalls for Pakistan as well as for all other pulverized Muslim countries in the same garb. The October 7th, 2023 Hamas incursion resembles so much with that. But in all the above quoted instances, the induced war fighters and persuaded participating countries and the alliances remained convinced as if they were truly fighting for great religious, political, ideological causes and for their respective greater national interests. Paradoxically, the compromised, blackmailed and pressurized leadership of such ensnared nations kept the facts hidden from their people or at worst they themselves remained ignorantly attached to the given narratives and agendas at the cost of millions of innocent lives, destruction of civilisations, culture and numb prospects of redemption anytime soon.
How do America and her allies get served by this latest Deep Cut by the Western Deep State? One, the Ukraine misadventure becoming a stalemate, NATO /EU as usual becoming disenchanted sooner than expected due to well-known reasons, hence face saving strategic distraction from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Two, after a brief US sponsored rapprochement between Israel and America's overly influenced ME friendly countries, this development may be taken as a stitch in time towards realisation of greater Israel that has also paved the way for greater American Military deployments in the region for even greater interests. Three, it may ultimately also help Israel and parent state and sponsors to eliminate the two main threats still out there as stated by Netanyahu i.e. a Nuclear Pakistan and a potential and hostile Iran…Man proposes, God disposes, nevertheless. Four, Israeli Zionists Jews who call Palestinian as animals, beasts and hostile settlers, are going to execute maximum kill, destruction and expulsions of Palestinians from Gaza and West Bank; and for that reportedly tent villages are already coming up in the Sinai desert sponsored by the USA/ allies. So a two states solution seems to have hit the rock bottom for the Palestine as per Israeli plan. Five, the Hamas attack unwittingly may have also thrown a wrench in the rapprochement process between Saudi Arabia and Iran with China at its back. Six, the envisaged settlement of Palestine issue on the American / Israel’s terms shall also be emulated more vigorously by her second most important strategic ally India for settling the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir issue in defiance of UN Resolutions and be able to breathe down Chinese and Pakistani necks with pride and relative ease. Seven, American policy and strategy for Asia Pacific Region and Quad Alliance’s potential expansion gets well served with stronger America and allies’ deployment in the region. Eight, Chinese BRI projects and expanding influence in the region and proximity with Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and CARs gets checkmated until and unless responded with equal or even better counter strategy. Nine, American and allies’ Defence Industrial Complexes continue to flourish with ME countries as main buyers till sucked dry and kept on a tight leash militarily, politically and economically with monopoly on their natural resources and markets. Ten, last but not the least, it is likely to keep American led global economic and security structures in place, ensuring effective domination of the Global Commons and least chances of interference in their other spheres of influence. Worst: If the UNO like its redundant predecessor called the League of Nations, failed to control the conflicts mostly perpetrated and supported by the members of the UN Security Council, which have consistently resulted in colossal loss of human lives and economic backlash since 1945, the Gaza / Palestine current conflict may turn into yet another cataclysmic clash of religions/ civilisations, engulfing the world in an end of the world war scenario. Allah forbid!
Since the Muslim countries individually or collectively (at the OIC/ Arab League, UNO forums) are too sluggish and meek to go beyond meaningless lip service as always despite great economic and military potentials; the BRAVEST HEART Palestinians have already come to conclude that their inert Muslim brethren have been made to believe with multiple reasons and excuses that they were doves and hyenas instead of Eagles and Tigers. Hence, the responsibility to defend Masjid AL-AQSA and their sacred land will remain Palestinian's solo effort till they all either embraced martyrdom or got liberated. The people of Indian occupied Kashmir feel the same way, unfortunately. So what is the hope? The Muslim countries especially Iran, Pakistan and Turkey should realise that the war drum beats considered distant are in fact for them to wake up and not just for Palestine.
If the Israelis could face up to their history and to the events from 1949 on, the world would no longer be threatened by the Israel/Palestine dispute and the madness of this conflict. It cannot go on like this into an indefinite future. The Israelis should pull back from the West Bank, offer a two-state solution on the most generous of terms, turning back the clock to 1947 (which if the Palestinians had been smart, they should have accepted then). Why should it be only to the so-called pre-1967 boundaries? The lion then would lie down with the lamb and swords would be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Fingers crossed!
“People who call themselves supporters of Israel are actually supporters of its moral degeneration and ultimate destruction.”― Noam Chomsky
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