Climbing down the Gaza Tree – Israel’s Gap between Words and Actions is Growing

January 1, 2024 Articles, Features
The gap between Israel's words and actions is growing. (Image: Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Editors

These are some of the lofty goals put forth by top Israeli government officials since the start of the war, none of which has been implemented.

On Monday, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas issued a statement saying that “the statements of the occupation leaders about displacing our people from Gaza are daydreams that will be thwarted by our people with their steadfastness and valiant resistance.”

It is normal, in times of war, that the warring parties make all sorts of hyped claims. Both sides vow decisive victory. Both sides often claim that they are vanquishing the enemy. Both sides allege that, at the end, they would be the only party still standing in the battlefield. 

So, for Hamas to make such a claim could easily be dismissed as part and parcel of the war rhetoric.

If we look at the evidence, however, Israel’s ‘daydreaming’ may not seem an exaggeration. 

On December 21, the Israeli military decided to pull out some of its most experienced and supposedly battle-hardened elite units, namely the Golani Brigades. 

The moment the soldiers escaped the range of the Yassin-105 and entered Israel, they seemed intoxicated with the knowledge that they had escaped the hell of the Gaza battle. They celebrated, not victory, but remaining alive. 

On Sunday, December 31, the Israeli military decided to pull out five brigades, out of nearly 17 brigades operating inside the Gaza Strip.

Israeli media reported that more such withdrawals should be expected in coming days. In other words, whatever major plans Israel had for Gaza are unlikely to be implemented. 

Yet, on Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich repeated the same line that “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration”.

Hamas’ comment on Israel’s ‘daydreaming’ was a response to that very statement. Considering the evidence, the Palestinian Resistance group’s statement is not incorrect. 

These are some of the lofty goals put forth by top Israeli government officials since the start of the war, none of which has been implemented.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu

November 11, 2023

“There is no alternative to victory. We will defeat Hamas and bring back our captives.”

December 25, 2023

“We wouldn’t have succeeded up until now to release more than 100 hostages without military pressure,” Netanyahu said during a speech in Israel’s parliament. “And we won’t succeed at releasing all the hostages without military pressure.”

December 30, 2023

The Philadelphi Route (between Rafah and Egypt) “has to be in our hands”.

Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant

October 20, 2023

We must destroy Hamas and establish a new ‘security reality’ in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel  Smotrich

December 31, 2023

“If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not two million, the whole discourse about the day after will be different,” Smotrich told Israeli army radio.

“In order to control the territory militarily over time, you must also have civilian presence there.”

Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir

January 1, 2024

“We must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents.” Ben Gvir argued that the departure of Palestinians and re-establishment of Israeli settlements “is a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”

“This is an opportunity to develop a project to encourage Gaza’s residents to emigrate to countries around the world,” he told a meeting of his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, party. 

Yet, on Sunday, the Israeli army decided to carry out a partial withdrawal from Gaza, leaving behind 12 army brigades, with no clear objectives, let alone a fighting spirit. 

The facts above, in the context of the retreat underway, indicate that none of the lofty goals set forth by the Israeli government have been achieved. 

This truth becomes even more evident following the massive volley of medium and long-range rockets fired by the Palestinian Resistance toward Israeli targets deep inside the country immediately as the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2024. 

The war is not over, and the Israeli government is itself unclear on what it believes the future course of action should be. What is clear, however, is that Tel Aviv is trying to hurriedly get down from a very high tree it climbed on October 7.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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2 Comments

  1. Netanyahu and his war crime cabinet, only successfully killing innocent babies, childrens and moms, successfully destroyed mosques and Palestine schools…thats all their won.

  2. Their are Many Blacks in Amerikkka! Who stand with Palestine! And the Resistance Fighters! Hamas..Islamic Jihad and the others! May Allah be pleased with the Martyrs! Victory over the Nazi X Zionists! Palestine must be Free from The River to the Sea! Black Power Salute! APDTA! Allahu Akbar!

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