‘Selfie’ and Two ‘Jumps for Joy’: How is the Morale of Palestinian Resistance in Gaza

December 9, 2023 Articles, Features
An Al-Qassam Brigades fighter taking what seems like a selfie in front of an Israeli Merkava tank engulfed in fire. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Editors

As the Israeli military continues to paint a positive picture of its military exploits in the Gaza Strip, numbers speak of a different reality.

On Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that more than 5,000 wounded Israeli soldiers had arrived at various hospitals in Israel. 

58 percent of those wounded are reportedly suffering from serious injuries, necessitating, in many cases, amputations of hands and feet.

These wounded have all received their injuries in the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. 

Hiding the Numbers 

This number might not even tell half of the story.

Since the start of the war, Israel has protected data on its casualties in the war so as not to create panic in the Israeli street. But it seems that the Israeli military is losing that battle as well. 

Demands for more information are compelling the Israeli Ministry of Defense to release new data on its war casualties. 

According to the Israeli daily, “over 2,000 (Israeli soldiers) were officially recognized by the Ministry of Defense as disabled.”

One can only imagine how many other thousands of soldiers suffered other forms of injuries that were not included in the statistics. 

New Tactic? 

But how is the scene on the Palestinian war front?

From the very first day of the war, the Resistance has made it clear that it has no intention of sharing any information about its own losses.

Military analysts, however, suggest that Al-Qassam Brigades and other Resistance groups have resorted to a military tactic that is aimed at reducing the number of casualties among its own fighters. 

This tactic is based on fighting in small groups, three to five fighters each, and operating under a local command, which by extension coordinates through small command units scattered across neighborhoods, refugee camps, and cities. 

But why this tactic? In this case, if Israel succeeds in killing a member or the entirety of the fighting group, this loss does not fundamentally alter the progress of the battle, let alone the dynamics of the war. 

This is precisely why northern regions in Gaza, which were invaded by Israel as early as October 27, are still fighting, sometimes with the same tenacity as many days ago.

As Israel was conveying a triumphant image, especially in northern Gaza, two counter Palestinian images appearing on the 61st day of the war and the 63rd day of the war refuted Israeli claims.

Selfie

The first was an image of an Al-Qassam Brigades fighter taking what seems like a selfie in front of an Israeli Merkava tank completely engulfed in fire, with Israeli soldiers reportedly inside.

Though the fighter’s face was blurred to protect his identity, his relaxed demeanor indicated a large degree of confidence in the way that Hamas is still operating in northern Gaza.

Additionally, the fact that Israeli forces did not rush to rescue their colleagues trapped inside the tank reflects the degree of panic and disorganization on the part of the Israeli army. 

Jumps for Joy

Another image was that of a video shared by Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

It showed a PIJ fighter rushing to celebrate the blowing up of another Israeli Merkava tank.

As he rushed back to celebrate the news with his cheering colleagues, he jumped for joy while carrying what seemed to be an RPG missile.

The fighter did not jump once but twice, in a scene that has gone viral on social media and shared repeatedly on Middle East news networks. 

Similarly to the Al-Qassam selfie, Al-Quds Brigades fighter’s elation and body language did not speak of a battle that is being lost. 

Guerilla warfare cannot be judged based on the advancement of enemy tanks, but rather on the behavior of the resisting forces once these tanks have advanced. 

The current battles of Gaza and the heavy losses among Israeli troops convey a story that no military analysts had ever imagined possible: poorly armed, but well-trained Palestinian Resistance groups defeating one of the world’s, supposedly, strongest armies.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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